Smile When You're Dead
by The Silent Scream
Summary: Gangbangers start turning up dead in Boston, and it's up to Jane and Maura to find out who is behind the murders and what their motivation for the gruesome kills is - while additionally having to deal with their growing feelings for each other and figure out how to handle them. Eventual Rizzles, rated M for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So, after almost two years of only reading R&I fanfic and not writing any, my muse decided that this break has been long enough and that I should get back to those two lovely ladies. Unfortunately, my muse is twisted and gruesome, and so will be parts of this story – you were warned ;) Also, like so many others here, I completely and totally ship Jane and Maura, so among the gruesomeness, we'll hopefully have a little romance develop between them. ;) I hope you'll enjoy, feedback is highly appreciated!

Disclaimer: Rizzoli & Isles are, sadly, not mine, or they would have hooked up in season 1 already. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.

* * *

Smile When You're Dead

It was a calm morning at the Isles residence, with Angela having prepared breakfast and having it set out on the table by the time Maura came out of the bathroom, done with her morning hygiene and looking as stunning as ever, even though she only had gotten out of bed a little less than an hour ago; in the guest room, Jane was still slumbering deeply, neither of the two women having the heart to wake her up, both of them well aware of how stressful the last few days had been for her, with a killer on the loose, a deranged man targeting young women out at night.

Now that they had the man behind bars, both Maura and Jane were hoping for a few days of peace and quiet until the next case would hit their unit; they both knew that those hopes might be short-lived though, aware of the fact that Boston wasn't the most peaceful city in the world, Angela shaking her head in dismay when the medical examiner voiced those thoughts to her while she poured herself a cup of the coffee the elder woman had prepared.

"Don't think like that", she then chided, sitting down and helping herself to one of the bread rolls, cutting it in half as she went on, "you have to think positive! Surely there'll be peace and quiet for a while now!"

"There's never much peace and quiet in our lives", Maura pointed out in reply, ignoring the way Angela raised an eyebrow at being contradicted like that, "statistics say that the homicide rate in the US is one of the highest in the world."

"Is it", Angela gave back, raising an eyebrow, "well, that's good to know."

As so often in her life, especially ever since the Rizzolis had entered it, Maura was unsure if this was meant honestly or if the elder woman had been sarcastic; before she could try to find out though, the rather distinctive footsteps of her best friend came thumping closer to the room, a rather bedraggled looking Jane entering moments later, running both hands through her tousled hair as she glared at the two women.

"You two", she then said in an accusing tone, dropping down on the nearest chair and reaching for the cup Angela had put on the table for her, "yapping away at this ungodly hour. What'cha talking about?"

"Murder rates in the US", Maura helpfully supplied the wanted information, earning an eyebrow raise from the taller woman which looked remarkably similar to the expression Angela had displayed just minutes ago, giving the medical examiner the feeling that she had to explain further.

"I was telling your mother how I was hoping for some peace and quiet now", she did just that, Angela nodding empathically next to her, "but that it's highly unlikely we'll get any, seeing how high the murder rates here are. So statistically, it is very likely that—"

"Don't", Jane interrupted her, raising one hand to underline the single word, rolling her eyes for additional emphasis, "do not talk about that right now. It's too early to hear of murder rates and how likely it is that we'll end up with another case soon."

"Why are you up already, anyway", Angela wanted to know in reply, skilfully changing the topic, much to her daughter's delight, "I thought you'd sleep in today after the last few days were so stressful."

"I tried", Jane defended herself, finally pouring coffee into her cup and then, without bothering to add milk or sugar, taking a big gulp from it, making Maura wince, the blonde still finding it hard to believe that her friend drank her coffee like this, "but the two of you were making too much noise."

Even though she knew for a fact that they hadn't been that loud and that most likely, there was another, much darker reason for Jane's early rising, Maura didn't comment, but merely gave the detective an apologetic look; Angela looked as if she wanted to say something, perhaps tell her daughter that she had seen through her lie, but before she could do so, the phones lying on the kitchen counter started to ring with just a few seconds between the two calls, making both Maura and Jane groan in frustration.

"See?" Jane then grumbled, getting up from her chair and making her way to the counter, snatching up her phone with more fervour than necessary, "no rest for the wicked. Bet it's another case. It's Frost calling."

"And Korsak", Maura informed her, having moved to her side and holding up her phone so Jane could see the name flashing on the display; they exchanged a look, then took their calls simultaneously, Angela finding herself unable to hold back a smile at how different sounded, Jane snapping "Rizzoli" into her phone while Maura's "Isles" sounded much more mild-mannered.

"Sorry for disturbing you on a Saturday morning", Frost apologized right after greeting the detective, "but Cavanaugh insisted I call you, said he wants you and Maura on this case."

"Why", Jane groaned with a roll of her eyes, fighting down the urge to throw the phone against the wall, "we just closed one, for God's sake!"

"Because he says you're the best", Frost replied, rare praise from the mouth of the lieutenant, but still not welcome in this very moment, "and it's… messy."

"Messy", Jane repeated, "messy how? What do we know?"

"Remember this gangbanger they brought in for questioning a few weeks ago, but then had to let go again?" Frost answered her question with another question, much to her annoyance, "the one the drug unit was after?"

"Not well", Jane admitted, after all, she didn't work with the drug unit and only had seen the guy in passing when he had been dragged through the precinct in handcuffs, "why? Did he kill someone now?"

"No", Frost gave back, and something in his voice made the detective's anger puff away, a strange feeling of dread coming over her instead.

"He was murdered", the young man went on, prompting the taller woman to exchange a look with Maura, who, judging from the look on her face, was hearing similar things from Korsak, "but from how it was done, well… we can tell it pretty sure wasn't gang or drug related."

"…why?" Jane asked after a moment, even though she wasn't sure she wanted to know; and when her partner answered her, she knew for sure that she should have stayed in bed and ignored the call, not ready to deal with this, not after the last case they just had closed.

"He was cut apart", Frost told her, and she could almost hear the shudder which ran through him, "sliced up and… mutilated. Jane, whoever did this to him, it was something personal, and Cavanaugh thinks it's just the beginning."

"Why something personal?" the detective gave back, stalling for time even though she knew she should already be getting dressed and ready herself to check out the scene, still not feeling ready to face this, "what makes you so sure of that? Gangs cut each other apart, happens all the time."

"Yes, but not like that", Frost responded at once, swallowing heavily before he went on, his words prompting the detective's eyes to widen.

"He wasn't just attacked with a knife and sliced to death", the younger detective told her, a slight tremble in his voice now. "He was castrated, and left to bleed to death."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I was planning to update tomorrow or perhaps on Saturday, then I realized I won't be home for those days, so yeah… I'm still trying to figure out an update schedule, I'm thinking once or twice a week, depending on how well this progresses (nope, it's not finished yet, but I got the whole thing worked out in my head, so I'm confident I won't hit any blocks :D). For now, here we go with an early update. ;)

* * *

"Make sure no one sees this", Jane said not even an hour later, gesturing at the crime scene without looking away from the dead body on the ground for the blink of an eye, "last thing we need is pictures of this in the newspaper."

"Someone probably already took one or two", one of the uniformed cops standing around at the scene murmured, still loud enough for the detective to hear; one glare from her was enough to get him moving though, and he hurriedly made his way to the end of the side alley in which the body had been found, making sure with two of his colleagues that none of the people walking by on their way to wherever would get a glimpse of the murdered man.

Behind them, Jane turned to look at the victim again, feeling her stomach turn; she had seen a lot of death during her career at BPD, but even she felt shaken by how gruesome this man had been killed, cuts all over his body, the most prominent ones being the hole between his legs where his manly parts had used to be and the deep slashes in his cheeks, running from the corners of his mouth all the way to the ears.

"Jeez", she mumbled, moving closer to the dead body despite the nausea settling in her stomach, feeling like a ball of lead right in the middle of it, "someone really took something out on that guy. You're right, Frost, this was personal."

"Told you", Frost gave back, keeping his back to the dead man, clearly having seen more than enough of him, "I don't think this was a gang-related hit."

"Neither do I", Maura agreed from where she was crouching next to the body, looking up at her friend, "during history, castration was used for slaves and enemy soldiers, to break their spirits and make them more compliant, but hardly ever as an execution method, the way it was done here."

"So that's what he died of, then?" Jane wanted to know, already knowing the answer though – it was the worst and most gruesome wound, and Maura wouldn't have said it if she hadn't been sure, the detective well aware of how much her best friend despised it to guess.

"Yes", Maura confirmed, "the other wounds are deep, but none of them caused enough blood loss to lead to death. I'll need to run some tests on him, need to find out why he… let this be done to him. Those other wounds aren't bad enough to paralyze him, not a strong and healthy young male like him."

"Why cut up his face like that", Jane pondered out loud, crouching down next to the victim as well and briefly grimacing when her knees popped, "it looks as if they wanted to make him grin."

"It's called a Glasgow Grin, or Glasgow Smile", Frost was the one to explain this time, still with his back to them, prompting Maura, who just had opened her mouth to do just that, to close it again in surprise, "you cut them and then kick them or whatever until they scream and their cheeks tear open like that."

"This was done by one twisted person", Jane decided in response, straightening up again and glancing around, "so we better get this guy to the morgue and find out more, before any more people fall victim to him."

"You think there'll be more?" Frost wanted to know, finally turning to look at her, surprise written all over his face; keeping her gaze fixed on the corpse, Jane nodded, her verbal response prompting Frost and Maura to exchange a worried look.

"Yes, there'll be more", she mumbled, sounding as if she wasn't even fully there with them, her thoughts far away, "with that violence and that determination… someone who kills like that doesn't just do it once."

* * *

While Maura was busy with the examination of the corpse downstairs in the morgue, the rest of the team headed to the bullpen, now clustered around Jane's computer as she typed in the victim's name, all of them glad that at least, this hadn't been difficult to find out.

"Harold Locksdale", Jane read out loud, Korsak peering over her right shoulder and Frost over her left, "has been arrested several times for possession of drugs, battery, sexual assault, robbery… Why was this guy still out on the street?"

"Had to let him go most of the time", Korsak was the one to answer, his eyes moving from left to right as he read the information in the file, "good lawyers, witnesses suddenly not wanting to testify anymore…"

"Typical", Jane grumble, "money talks, and the creep walks. I don't even want to know how many witnesses his little gang friends scared off whenever he was on trial again."

"Any information on the other members of his gang?" Frost wanted to know, prompting her to start scrolling until the portion of the file in which this information was kept appeared on the screen; the list of names of people suspected to be members of the gang was shockingly long, prompting Jane to roll her eyes while Korsak let out a snort.

"Quite a lot of dudes in his gang", Frost said out loud what they all were thinking, "and no women at all, at least not judging by the names."

"Such gangs hardly ever accept women into their ranks", Korsak informed him as an answer, briefly glancing at him before he focused on the file again, "in some of them, the girlfriends of the members get to go along when they do their thing, but they aren't considered full members, either."

"Well, if he had a girlfriend, he wouldn't want to take her along when he goes out to rob or assault someone", Jane mumbled, finally looking away from the file and at Korsak, her next words prompting him to raise an eyebrow. "Think we should figure out how to reach those guys and warn them?"

"They might not believe us", Korsak gave back, rubbing his bearded chin in thought, "or think it's some kind of trick."

"And we don't know yet if they'll be targeted", Frost added, quickly raising his hands and speaking on when Jane looked as if she wanted to protest, "I know you think they will be, but there's no evidence for that."

"So we should wait until another one's killed?" Jane asked incredulously, her sharp tone making her partner wince, "really?"

"Just imagine what might happen", he tried to argue in reply, "if we try to warn them and they actually believe us. Those guys are not known for how patient they are, and if we put them on edge by warning them about a killer after them, innocent people might get hurt, just for looking at them the wrong way."

"Good point", Jane had to admit, frowning to herself as she thought of the unpleasant possibilities, "well, let's focus on the dead guy we have then, and see what we can find out… Perhaps we'll be lucky and, if this killer is after more than one of them, we'll catch him before he does another one in."

As if this had been some sort of cue, her phone vibrated on her belt, and she wasn't surprised to see that a message from Maura had been the cause for that, informing her that she had the first few facts about the victim.

"Maura's got something", she let the two men know, already coming to her feet, "I'll go to the morgue and see what she has for us."

Both Korsak and Frost nodded in response to that, then turned towards the computer again while Jane hurried out of the bullpen, not noticing the look the two men were exchanging at her eagerness to get downstairs and to her best friend's side.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: So this update is a bit on the shorter side, but I promise the next one will be longer ;) For now, let's see what Maura found, shall we? ;)

* * *

"Those cuts were made with a very sharp knife", Maura told her a short while later, pointing to the wounds in the man's arms and legs and torso, "see the clean edges of the wound? If the blade hadn't been perfectly sharp, they would look more serrated. And all the injuries were inflicted pre-mortem."

"So he bled to death from the castration", Jane concluded, "but why would he just let this happen? Are there any defensive wounds?"

"None", Maura gave back, making the detective frown, "those cuts on his arms are not the classic defensive wounds. I took a few samples to check for any drugs in his system, a neuromuscular-blocking drug perhaps or some other means of paralysing him."

"Makes sense", Jane had to agree, studying the dead man, taking in his pale face, the deep cuts in his cheeks forming a stark contrast to skin so white that it was almost transparent, "he must have been paralyzed to just let this happen, especially if he didn't fight back at all…"

"If he did, he had no success", Maura let her know, grasping one of his hands and lifting it slightly, gesturing at the fingernails, "I cleaned out his fingernails, but all I found was… dirt. No skin or blood beneath them."

"That's messed up", Jane mumbled, her gaze moving from the clean nails of the man to his crotch before she could stop herself, a shudder running through her at the sight of the large wound where his penis and testicles had been; the injury had been cleaned, but it still looked as gruesome as it had back at the crime scene, even a bit worse now, without the blood and the shredded pants there anymore to obscure the view.

"I found fibres of fabric in the wound", Maura let her know, having noticed where her best friend was looking, "and you know I hate to guess, but…"

"…but it looks as if whoever did this cut his junk off through his pants?" Jane did it for her, making her cringe at her rather unprofessional wording; still she nodded after a moment, prompting the detective to grimace as well as she pondered the meaning of this further.

"So", she thought out loud, "whoever did this had time to paralyze him, and cut him up, but no time to pull down his pants for castrating him?"

"Yes", Maura confirmed, "the damage done to the piece of clothing supports that theory."

"It can't have been a matter of time", Jane kept thinking out loud, forcing herself to keep her eyes away from the wound even though they wanted to look at it again and again, "so there must be some other reason… Eagerness perhaps, or… not wanting to touch him directly…"

"All very reasonable possibilities", Maura replied neutrally, still avoiding it skilfully to do any guesswork, "but we don't know for sure."

"Of course not", the detective gave back, slightly irritated; when the medical examiner smiled at her though, it all was forgotten, and suddenly, she found it hard to focus on the case as she watched how Maura turned away from the corpse and to her small instruments table, her gaze focusing on the medical examiner, the smallest, barely visible smile curling her lips as she studied her.

Then, she snapped out of it and shook her head to herself, irritated at how she had done this _again_; lately, she had caught herself just staring at her best friend again and again, studying her, taking in each and every detail about her, the way her hair always seemed to fall just perfectly on her shoulders and down her back, the way her eyes sparkled whenever she laughed and the way hearing her laugh was making her feel deep inside.

_Get a grip, Rizzoli, _she scolded herself, forcing her gaze away from the blonde woman and on the dead man again, _dead guy, remember? Murder case to solve?_

"Found anything which belongs to our killer?" she asked out loud, eager to get her mind away from the beauty of her best friend, "hair, skin, anything?"

"Nothing so far", Maura gave back, shaking her head, to the detective's obvious dismay, "it seems they did a remarkably good job of keeping the corpse clean."

"Great, just great", Jane sighed, shaking her head and giving the corpse a glum look, as if it was his fault, "alright… Thanks Maur, I'll go and see if the guys found anything interesting, call or text me once you get the results, alright?"

"Of course", Maura promised at once, making the taller woman smile at her; she automatically smiled back, and, unbeknownst to Jane, kept smiling to herself as she watched her best friend leave, her gaze fixed on her with full focus, the morgue and her work around her forgotten as she took in the grace of the other woman's movements and studied her figure, unaware of the fact that just minutes ago, Jane had done the very same with her.


	4. Chapter 4

During the next two hours, Jane busied herself with paperwork, figuring that, even though she hated doing it, it was a way to pass the time, and if she waited too long with doing it, Cavanaugh would call her into his office again and yell at her, as it had happened not too long ago, when he had found out that she hadn't done her paperwork for the past few weeks.

Even though she tried hard to focus on the task at hand, eager to get it done and off her cluttered desk, the detective again and again let her mind wander, thinking about the new case for a while – and then about Maura, again and again replaying various moments in her mind's eye, calm and peaceful times she had shared with the medical examiner, when they simply had been enjoying each other's company, having drinks at the Dirty Robber or just hanging out at the blonde's home.

And just as regularly as she let her mind drift off, she snapped herself out of it again, mentally scolding herself for being so distracted; she asked herself what was wrong with her as she focused on her paperwork yet again – after all, she had known Maura for years now, but in all that time, she never had found herself thinking of her as often as she was doing now.

_Well, except for that one time when you thought someone kidnapped her, _she pondered to herself, not even noticing that she had stopped working again and was thinking about her best friend once more, _you couldn't stop thinking about her back then. But that was different, you didn't know what was going on…_

Realizing that yet again, she was thinking about Maura instead of doing her work, Jane let out an audible groan and buried her face in her hands; at his desk, Frost looked up and raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment, to her relief probably figuring that she was getting frustrated about the paperwork and not having a clue about the real reason for her behaviour.

"You okay over there?" Korsak didn't do her that favour, giving her a curious look; she let out a vaguely agreeing grunt in reply, then glared at the stack of paperwork, asking herself why she always let it pile up that way before tackling it at last, and then spending hours getting it done.

"I need a coffee", she decided after taking another look at the paperwork waiting for her, "you guys want some, too?"

"No thanks", Frost gave back while Korsak lifted his cup and claimed he already got some; glad that none of them had called her out on the fact that she'd ignore the paperwork yet again to get her coffee, Jane got up from her seat and stretched before heading out of the bullpen and to the elevator, sending a quick text to Maura on the way there.

_Getting coffee, _she wrote, _u want some?_

Not even half a minute after she had hit the "Send" button, the phone vibrated on her hip, informing her that the medical examiner's answer had arrived; Jane wasn't surprised to see that Maura had sent a simple "Yes", smirking to herself as she let the elevator carry her down to the groundfloor, heading straight for the cafeteria, nodding greetings to those who called out to her or waved to her.

To her relief, there, for once, was no line in front of the cafeteria counter; thus, her mother immediately spotted her the moment she entered and waved rather enthusiastically, calling to her all the way through the room if she wanted something to eat or just coffee.

"Keep it down, Ma", Jane hissed, slightly embarrassed, once she had hurried close enough to be heard without hollering, as well, "or do you want the whole precinct to know if I'm hungry or not? Just coffee. Two, Maura wants one, as well."

"Of course", Angela gave back, already moving to the coffee machine, "when did you get one just for you the last time? That must have been months ago."

The remark was innocent enough, but still it caused Jane to pause and give her mother a hard look as she asked herself if the elder woman had noticed anything; then, she pushed those thoughts aside, telling herself that there wasn't anything to notice, and just shrugged, a gesture her mother didn't see since she stood with her back to the detective.

While she waited for the coffee to get done, Jane let her thoughts wander once more, this time, for once, not thinking about her best friend, but about the case they were working on; again, she pondered the unusually high cruelty and aggression of the crime, thinking of how the man had be killed and forced to admit to herself that this hadn't been a simple heat of the moment murder, the kind she often had dealt with in her career, but a planned and well-executed act.

"There you go", Angela tore her out of her thoughts, handing her the two paper cups filled with coffee, prepared with sugar and milk just the way Maura and she liked it, "say Hi to Maura from me, I haven't seen her all day."

"She's busy with the new case", Jane told her, something she instantly regretted though as her mother gasped, then looked at her with wide eyes, trying and failing miserably to keep her voice down as she replied. "You mean the poor man who got castrated? That's so gruesome!"

"Yell a bit louder, Ma", the detective replied, raising an eyebrow at her, "I don't think the whole precinct heard you. Yes, that man, but please keep quiet about it, we're not sure yet what it is about and we don't want the media vultures on our heels."

"Of course, of course, sorry", Angela hurriedly gave back, "well, say Hi to Maura from me and enjoy the coffee!"

"Will do", Jane promised, taking careful hold of the coffee cups, "see you later, Ma."

Nodding, the elder woman smiled brightly at her, then told her to take care; she nodded again in response, then hurried off, eager to get to the morgue and to her best friend, not even admitting to herself _how _eager she was to see Maura again, even though they just hadn't seen each other for a few hours.

* * *

It was a slow night, to his great dismay; so far, only one person had approached him to buy, and he grumbled to himself as he leaned against the wall of the building behind him in the small, not much frequented side alley, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his sweater after checking his watch impatiently. He had to get at least another five sales before he could go, or Harold would be pissed again, and the last thing he needed was the man angry at him yet once more.

"Come on", he grumbled at no one in particular, looking around impatiently, willing a customer to appear, "normally you guys swarm me the moment I get outta my ride, where are ya today?"

As if his grumbling had been some sort of cue, one of those just walking past him in his little side alley stepped out of the constant flow of people and approached him; he immediately straightened up and took his hands out of his pockets, eying the advancing figure, studying the baggy pants and sweater the potential customer was wearing, hiding their built, the sweater's hood pulled deep into the person's face, hiding his features from him.

"Yo", he greeted in a carefully neutral tone, raising one hand in greeting, "can I help you?"

"I think you can", the person replied, the voice, although rather deep and hoarse, identifying them as female, "you're Weir, aren't you. I heard you… might have what I need."

"Depends on who told you", Weir told her; this wasn't the first time a new customer approached him, and it wouldn't be the last time, but he still was wary, knowing that each time might be the last, with an undercover cop coming up to him instead of someone in need for some weed or pills.

"A friend", the woman gave back, stepping closer to him; something about her set off his inner alarms, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable, glancing around before his gaze focused on her again, his voice betraying nothing of his unease when he told her that this wouldn't do and that he needed a name.

"Surely you understand the need for caution", he went on when she didn't reply at once, his unease making it impossible for him to stop talking, even though he couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly was making him uneasy, "with the cops everywhere these days."

"You don't even remember her name anymore", the woman replied, and while he still asked himself what this meant, she reached up and moved the hood back, and he got the first real look at her face; his eyes went wide, but before he could scream or try to run or do anything else, the syringe was in her hand and the needle was rammed into his flesh, a choked noise coming from him as the drug entered his bloodstream and took effect, no one on the nearby busy street noticing how he went down.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: So! Remember when I said this isn't finished yet in chapter 2? Well, my muse put in some overtime, because apparently, she really liked this story, and now it is. I find it a bit hard to believe, but I went on a two day writing spree and now it is finished, so I'll update daily now until next week, when I'm off for a few days of holidays in lovely London. I hope you'll enjoy! :)

* * *

"So you were right, Jane", Frost sighed out several hours later, looking down on the body; he was glad that he hadn't had breakfast yet, having been called to the crime scene first thing in the morning, since now, there was nothing in his stomach he could have thrown up.

"Wish I hadn't been right", Jane grumbled next to him, her gaze fixed on the dead man, as well; just like the corpse they had found the day before, this one had been castrated, the same deep slashes in his cheeks, and cuts all over the rest of his body.

"I wouldn't have expected them to strike again so fast", Maura let them know, crouching next to the body to get a closer look at it, "if this is the work of a serial killer, he or she is escalating quickly. Usually, such killers take… breaks, for lack of a better word, between their kills, unless they enter a very violent psychotic break."

"Cutting off a guy's junk and letting him bleed to death seems psychotic to me", Frost commented, making the medical examiner look up at him, "surely if this was just to get rid of them, there are less brutal ways."

"Unless it's about sending a message", Jane pondered out loud, "or some other, twisted reason we can't follow as of now. What was he doing out here, anyway?"

"Selling drugs", Maura sighed in response, holding up the small bags she had found in the dead man's pockets while the two detectives had been talking, "this looks like weed, and there's an assortment of pills, as well. I'll have them analysed at the lab."

"Any ID on him?" Jane wanted to know, prompting the medical examiner to hold out a battered-looking wallet in response; quickly, the detective pulled on a set of gloves to avoid contaminating that evidence before she took it and opened it, quickly thumbing through the various cards and pieces of paper stored inside until she found a driver's license, carefully removing it and taking a closer look at it.

"Walter Weir", she read out loud, frowning, "anyone remember if this guy was on the member list of Locksdale's gang?"

"I got the list with me", Frost proudly gave back, producing said item from the inner pocket of his coat and quickly reading through it, "and, yup, there he is. Walter 'Weird' Weir. What a kind nickname."

Shrugging at the possible kindness or lack thereof of the nickname, Jane put the license back into the wallet, then quickly found one of the Ziploc baggies used for evidence and dropped it in it; the drugs went into another one, and once Maura had cleared the crime scene for transport of the dead man to the morgue, all the baggies were put into the car, Frost taking the back seat so Maura could sit in the front with Jane, the detective briefly wondering why he'd do that, then shrugging it off, as well.

"We definitely have to give information to the others now", she grumbled while she started the engine, glancing at the rear view mirror to make sure she wouldn't run anyone over before she backed out onto the street, "the second murder in just as many nights, and I doubt they will stop. No matter if they'll believe us or not, we have to tell them."

"You're right", Maura agreed, before Frost had the chance to say anything, "they should know that someone might be after all of them, but keep in mind what Barry here said, about putting them one edge. This might end badly for an innocent person."

"Well, we can't not tell them", Frost took Jane's side this time, to her surprise and slight delight, "if this killer is determined to take one of them down each night, their gang will be gone within the next two weeks."

"Don't say this too loud in certain units, or they'll tell you it's a good riddance", Jane sighed, making him grimace before he nodded; then, they fell silent as the detective focused on driving, her mind revolving around the case and on what they might be missing, convinced that the solution to the whole situation was right there in front of her and she just wasn't capable of seeing it yet.

* * *

The moment Maura stepped into the morgue, Susie Chang came rushing up to her, nearly making her take a step back with the way she waved a folder in her face, sounding absurdly proud when she declared, rather loudly, that "the results are in!", making the medical examiner smile after a moment as she finally caught up and realized what the other woman was talking about.

"And?" she wanted to know as she accepted the folder and peered inside, "what do they say?"

"Just as you thought it would be", Susie gave back, smiling at the other woman as she pushed her glasses back up her nose, "a very effective neuromuscular-blocking drug has been used on him. I checked it thoroughly, of course, and it renders the victim incapable of movement within seconds, but not of feeling."

Frowning, Maura thought of the gruesome implications of this while she quickly read through the report; then, she thanked the criminalist for her impeccable work, making her smile from ear to ear, and told her that she'd have another sample soon which she'd wanted tested for the same drug, making the younger woman nod her agreement at once.

"I'll analyse it with highest priority", she then promised, making it Maura's turn to nod; she gave the senior criminalist another smile, then told her that she had to get this to Jane and, without waiting for a response, turned and hurried to the elevator, figuring that bringing the report to her friend had priority over the examination of the most recent addition to her morgue.

While she took the elevator to the detective's floor, she found herself pondering said friend, and how her thought process about her had changed in the last few weeks; again and again, she had caught herself thinking about Jane, thinking about her the way she only had thought about her various male admirers and companions before, imagining how it would be to feel the taller woman's lips on hers and to run her hands through her dark and wavy hair as they kissed, how it might feel to have Jane's arms wrapped around her and hold her close, and how happy it made her to see her friend laugh or just sit there looking content.

She was self-aware enough to know what those thoughts meant, and honest enough with herself to admit that they scared her a bit; in all her life, she never had had such feelings and thoughts about another woman, only having entertained them about men exclusively, and even though she was well aware of the Kinsey scale and knew that of those identifying themselves as purely heterosexual, not all of them were, merely not acting on any homosexual feelings they might have been harbouring.

Holding back a sigh, Maura looked up at the elevator's ceiling deep in thought, asking herself if this was merely some sort of phase, kind of like a school girl crush, which would pass sooner or later, or if she really and seriously was falling in love with her best friend; and to her dismay, she had to admit that she had no idea what she would do about her feelings, should they turn out to be lasting, not wanting to imagine what might happen if she'd voice them to Jane and end up being rejected.

_It was bad enough when we briefly hated each other after the whole mess with Paddy, _she thought to herself, frowning at the unpleasant memories, _but to make her hate me permanently by telling her I'm falling for her, I wouldn't be able to take that… _

The soft "ping" of the elevator and the doors sliding open distracted her from her thoughts, and she put a smile which felt way too fake on her face, not wanting anyone to notice that something was bothering her; she knew that, if she wasn't distracted by the case at hand, Jane would see through her forced smile in a moment and would ask her if she was alright, an unpleasant thought – normally, she would be delighted by her best friend noticing her dismay, but with her inability to lie, it really wouldn't come in handy right now.

Thus, she gave her best to ignore her discomfort and dark thoughts as she made her way to the bullpen; there, Jane and Frost sat side by side, going over some sort of list, both of them looking up when she entered.

"I got the report from senior criminalist Chang", she explained, holding up the folder as if for emphasis, "it was just as you thought, Jane, a powerful drug has been used on him to render him motionless."

"Thought so", Jane nodded at once, giving the folder a dark look, as if it was the item's fault, "what else?"

"Well", Maura gave back, relieved that apparently, Jane's mind was too occupied with the case to let her notice that her best friend wasn't fully fine, "Susie told me that, while it makes the victim incapable of moving, it doesn't block the nerve reception. So, while they can't move to fight back, they can still feel."

"Of course they can", Jane sighed while Frost paled visibly, swallowing heavily, "no point in doing this to them if they can't feel it, they might as well just shoot their victims if it was just about killing them. No, this is personal."

"You're probably right", Frost agreed, "but this is messed up."

"It is", the other detective gave back at once, "which is why we have to stop it. Anything else of value in this report, Maura? Where can one get such a drug?"

"Nowhere", Maura replied at once, her answer clearly not satisfying the taller woman though, since she frowned again, prompting her to elaborate.

"You can't just buy such a drug at the next pharmacy", she thus explained, opening the report again to get a look at the contents, "from what Susie told me, it's a mixture made of several different drugs. One would either have to be a chemist, a pharmacist, or a doctor, to create this kind of mix and use it successfully, without one of the ingredients upsetting the balance and thus the effect of the others."

"Great, that narrows it down", Jane grumbled, "so now the only people we suspect are pharmacists, chemists, and doctors. Not that many here in Boston…"

"There's no need for sarcasm", Frost pointed out before Maura could do so, making the medical examiner smile, since she had been thinking exactly the same thing, "this at least does narrow the list down a little bit. And we can check our database, see if a doctor, chemist or pharmacist filed a report about one or both of them. Or more, that would narrow down the list of possible victims."

"Good thinking", Jane had to admit, a bit annoyed about the fact that her first notion, namely being sarcastic, had kept her from figuring this out on her own, making her partner smile proudly; Maura smiled as well, and immediately, Jane's annoyance was blown away as she drank in the sight, allowed herself to enjoy it for a few moments without thinking about the case and the murderer still on the loose out there.

Then, she realized what she was doing and quickly averted her gaze, not wanting Maura to catch her staring; thus, she didn't notice that Maura's gaze was lingering on her a bit longer than it had to as well, the blonde smiling slightly to herself, just enough to let Frost notice, forcing him to hold back a smirk – he had figured out rather quickly that his mother was dating her "roommate", as she had referred to her back then, before he had made it clear to them that he knew and didn't care, and they had looked at each other just as Jane and Maura did, except the latter were doing it when they thought the other wasn't noticing.

_Interesting, _the young detective thought to himself, fighting hard to hold back the grin, not wanting Jane to ask him what was so funny; and moments later, she addressed him again, making not smiling quite easy for him since she set him on the task of going through the database and finding out if any pharmacist, chemist or doctor had been harassed by the gang members.

"And while he does that, let's go back down to the morgue and see what our new victim can tell us", Jane now focused on Maura again, making the medical examiner nod; they headed off together a few moments later while Frost looked at his computer and sighed, knowing that a lot of tedious work was ahead of him, but also knowing that it had to be done and thus moving to get started, figuring that there was no time to waste.


	6. Chapter 6

"Fibres of the fabric his pants were made of in the wound, just like with the first victim", Maura mumbled a short time later, picking one of said fibres off the gruesome wound with a pair of pincers, looking at it before she carefully put it on the tray she had readied, "clean edges again, which indicates the use of a sharp weapon."

"A doctor then, perhaps", Jane guessed in response, ignoring the way Maura gave her a scolding look for doing just that, "with a scalpel?"

"Could be", the medical examiner replied neutrally, "even though a scalpel would dull rather fast if so grossly misused, cutting through fabric. Also, you don't need to be a doctor to get hold of a scalpel."

"Hrmph", Jane let out, crossing her arms over her chest in dismay, "that's not very helpful, Maur."

"I know", the blonde gave back, fighting hard to ignore how warm it made her feel whenever Jane called her that; she was the only one to address her that way, and she wasn't sure she'd allow anyone else to do so, just loving the way the syllable rolled off Jane's tongue whenever she said it.

"But you know it's true", she added, earning another "hrmph" from the detective, "and you know I hate guessing, so I won't confirm nor deny that it was a scalpel."

"Fiiiiine", Jane sighed out, making the medical examiner giggle – before she grew serious again, focusing on the task at hand once more, carefully picking up one of the dead man's hands to examine the fingernails.

"Seems like there's just dirt underneath those, as well", she mumbled to herself as she used a, to Jane's eyes, ridiculously tiny and frail looking instrument to clean them, "but it makes sense if he was paralyzed, as well."

"We'll know as soon as Susie gets us the results", Jane shrugged, "but you know what I've been wondering about? Frost said those gruesome wounds in their cheeks come from being cut and then hurt until they screamed, to make the cuts tear open. But if they were paralyzed, they couldn't scream, right?"

This gave Maura pause, the tiny instrument stopping in mid-movement as she thought about it; and after a moment, she nodded, taking another look at the dead man, sounding thoughtful when she replied. "If all of him is paralyzed, you're right, he shouldn't be able to scream. Also, he was killed in that side alley, not many people are walking through it, but quite a few are using the street it leads to, and surely, screams would have been heard there."

"Good point, yeah", Jane nodded her agreement, prompting the smaller woman to smile, feeling absurdly proud all at once, "but if he couldn't scream, how did they make his cheeks tear open like that?"

"I don't know, Jane", Maura patiently replied, once more pointing out that she didn't like to guess without actually saying it and prompting the detective to roll her eyes, "perhaps the killer will be willing to tell us once we found him."

"Which might take a while if we never find anything", the other woman grumbled in response, "did you check for fingerprints and stuff yet?"

"Of course", the medical examiner replied, now sounding just a tad indignant, "that was one of the first things I did. Nothing, just like with the first corpse. This killer knows what he or she is doing."

"Too bad", Jane sighed, making her best friend nod in agreement; they both looked at the corpse in silence for a while, then the taller woman straightened up and her gaze focused on Maura again as she asked her if she was up to having lunch now.

"Yes", the smaller woman agreed immediately, making her friend smile, "perhaps, when we get back, the results will be in."

Nodding, Jane threw another look at the corpse, then turned to watch how Maura took off the blue scrubs she always wore during examining a corpse; for a moment, she entertained the thought of how she would like to help her out of those scrubs, and then of the clothing she was wearing beneath, then scolded herself for her dirty mind and forced herself to get it out of the gutter, smiling innocently when Maura got done and turned to look at her again.

"Ready to go?" she asked, making the medical examiner nod; the two smiled at each other for another moment, then left the morgue together and headed upstairs, pushing the case at hand to their back of their minds as they both knew that they needed at least a small amount of time to relax and to unwind.

* * *

The rest of the day had gone by in a flurry of work and going through the facts of the case; Frost had started calling the other members of the gang, at least those the department had a working number of and thus could reach, giving them a carefully worded warning about someone being after them, not surprising any of them though as they all by now knew about the deaths of their fellow gang members, all those he managed to reach thus believing him at once, some of them even a bit surprised about the police bothering to warn them.

While he had been busy with this, Maura had received the report for the second victim, and just like the first one, the man had been drugged with exactly the same drug; this only confirmed what they all already had known, namely that it had been the same person murdering those two men, someone they still knew nothing about it. To the dismay of all of them, Frost's search through the reports filed about the gang members hadn't led to anything useful; there had been quite a few, ranging from assault to drug-related offenses, but none of them had been made by a doctor, pharmacist or chemist.

Now, at the end of yet another exhausting day, Jane was more hanging than sitting on the comfortable couch in Maura's living room; the doctor was busy talking to the detective's mother in the kitchen while Jane was zapping through the channels, looking for something remotely interesting to watch.

Grumbling at the lack of proper entertainment on TV, she took another swig of her nicely cooled beer, once more grateful about the fact that Maura always kept several bottles of her favourite brand cooled in her fridge for her; it helped to raise her mood a tiny bit, even though it plummeted again within seconds when she pushed the button for the next channel and found herself looking at Cavanaugh, standing in front of a forest of microphones.

"…our best detectives on this case", the lieutenant was saying, prompting Jane to sit up straighter on the couch while at the kitchen counter, Maura and Angela turned to look as well, the medical examiner hushing the elder woman with a gesture when she started to gush about how good the man looked in TV.

"We are making use of all resources at our disposal to find the one responsible", Cavanaugh went on, managing to look rather stern despite the fact that so far, they had nothing, neither Jane, nor Maura wondering for a second which case he was talking about, "and we have specialists with high experience working this case."

"Is it true that Jane Rizzoli is on the case?" one of the reporters called out, making the detective's eyes widen – usually, it was avoided to let it slip who exactly was working a case until it had been solved, to protect the detectives and make sure the one responsible for the crime at hand wouldn't come after them; to her relief, Cavanaugh stuck to this rule, replying merely with "No comment", then declaring that the press conference was over.

"How do they know?" Maura wanted to know, worried, giving Jane an uneasy look, "no one's supposed to know which detective is working the case until it has been solved!"

"Someone must have talked", Jane grumbled, taking another gulp of her beer before she went on, "a cop perhaps, or one of the lab techs… Someone in need of a little extra money from the press. Unfortunately, my name's quite well known out there by now."

"If this killer comes after you now, I'll find out who did this personally and poison their coffee", Angela declared, clearly not minding the fact that perhaps, this wasn't the wisest thing to say with a medical examiner and a detective in the same room; none of them made any comment about it though, Jane just smirking while Maura raised an eyebrow, not sure if the elder woman had been serious.

"Well", Angela declared before the blonde had a chance to ask, "I'll head over to the guesthouse for the night, take care girls, see you in the morning!"

"It's that late already", Jane realized in surprise, checking her watch; nodding, Maura moved over to the couch and stopped behind it, placing one hand on the taller woman's shoulder, a harmless, friendly touch she dared to make, even though it sent shivers up and down her spine, the doctor fully unaware that it was doing exactly the same to the other woman.

"Why don't you stay here", she suggested, giving her best to keep her tone light, "you've already had a beer anyway, so you shouldn't be driving, and, as you observed yourself, it has gotten quite late."

"Yeah, sure", Jane agreed without missing a beat – after all, she slept more here at Maura's place than at her own apartment anyway, so one night more at the medical examiner's home didn't really make that much of a difference.

"Great", Maura smiled, sounding just a bit too delighted, not noticing the sharp look Jane shot her though since she was moving around the couch now, sitting down next to the detective moments later and making herself comfortable; Jane looked at her for another moment, then told herself that she shouldn't read too much into this this, only to nearly jump and squeak moments later when the medical examiner shifted on the couch, a bit closer to her, until their legs were touching just enough to let the touch be noticeable.

It took almost all of her willpower to focus on the TV again, and she stared at the screen so hard that it almost made her eyes water, asking herself if Maura had any idea, just the tiniest inkling, about what she was doing to her with a such a casual touch; if she had taken just a moment to look over at the blonde, she would have noticed that the medical examiner was reacting noticeably to the touch as well, her cheeks slightly reddened and her breathing just a bit faster than usual.

Thanks to how hard she was focusing on the TV though, Jane didn't notice a thing, clutching her bottle of beer as she gave her best to not look at her best friend, not sure what she might do, should their eyes happen to meet; in the last few days, she had found herself fantasizing about kissing Maura more and more, and she knew that, after that electrifying touch, she might do just that, should her gaze meet the smaller woman's. Not wanting to imagine what this might do to their friendship, she thus kept her eyes fixed firmly on the TV screen, trying to ignore how her mind was running wild with longing and desire for her best friend, unaware that right next to her, Maura was feeling exactly the same and was dealing with exactly the same thoughts and emotions.

* * *

Perhaps, Maura later had time to reflect, things would have gone much differently if she hadn't awoken in the middle of the night, urgent pressure on her bladder tearing her out of her sweet dreams about Jane, and had been forced to go to the bathroom; on the way there, she passed the guestroom, and thus heard the sounds which would have gone unnoticed otherwise, the soft whimpers and groans which indicated that Jane was suffering through yet another nightmare.

The call of nature forgotten, Maura paused in front of the door, insecure of how to handle this; she knew that Jane was still having nightmares every now and then, the evidence perfectly visible each morning after another night filled with them, in form of the dark circles beneath the detective's eyes and the way she was even grumpier than usual then, and whenever they had happened to fall asleep in the same bed and bad dreams had plagued the taller woman, she had given her best to comfort her, but she never had entered the guestroom to wake her up before.

Then, she decided that it'd be heartless and wrong to just let Jane suffer through the nightmare and carefully, slowly, opened the door, not wanting to startle the detective; she took a moment until her eyes had gotten used to the darkness, then slowly moved over to the bed and carefully sat down on the edge, momentarily insecure again about how she should handle this – she was good enough with corpses and finding out how they had died, but social protocols and behaviour had been a mystery to her all her life, something which only had started to change once her friendship with Jane had begun to form.

Figuring that tenderly waking her friend up might be a good course of action, Maura softly said her name, repeating it a bit louder when there was no reaction except for more groans and whimpers; when she realized that this didn't lead anywhere, the blonde carefully reached out and touched Jane's shoulder, only to flinch back, startled, when the detective let out a hoarse, mangled noise in reply that probably should have been a scream and her eyes flew open, her breath harsh and quick as her gaze darted left and right, full of panic and fear.

"It's okay, it's okay", Maura hurriedly reassured her, grasping one of her hands and holding it tenderly, "it's okay, Jane, it was a bad dream, but you're safe here, you're in my home, with me, you're safe…"

For a few more moments, the detective remained tense, breathing so hard that it sounded almost painful; then, she relaxed and slumped back into the pillow, letting out a heavy breath, her voice trembling just enough to let Maura notice when she asked her in a tone even hoarser than usual if she had woken her up.

"No, my bladder did", Maura let her know, momentarily asking herself if this had been too much information, then shrugged it off, realizing that she still was holding Jane's hand, but not letting go of it, ignoring that it might be slightly awkward and figuring that her friend needed every form of support and comfort she could get right now.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she thus asked, figuring that this was a good thing to say; momentarily, Jane looked as if she wanted to decline, perhaps send her out so she could deal with this on her own – and then she swallowed heavily, the tremble in her voice increasing when she replied, just saying a single word, but this being more than enough to tell Maura how dreadful her nightmare had been.

"Hoyt", the detective almost whispered, a shudder running through her which was mimicked by the medical examiner; not sure what she should or could reply to this, Maura simply moved on the bed after a moment of thought and pulled her best friend into a hug, feeling her stiffen for a second as her arms wrapped around her – before she allowed herself to accept the embrace and the comfort it brought and almost slumped into the blonde's arms, a shaky breath coming from her as she fought against the sudden urge to cry.

"It's okay", Maura repeated her earlier statement, "he's dead, and gone, he can't harm you anymore…"

"I keep failing you", Jane rasped in reply, finding opening up to her best friend in the darkness much easier than it ever had been during the day, "when he had both of us and I killed him… I keep failing you in my dreams and he does all this horrid things to you…"

"But you didn't fail me", the blonde reassured her at once, rubbing her back soothingly, her heart clenching up when she felt her tremble in her embrace, "you won, you defeated him, and he'll never harm anyone ever again."

After a few more moments of just breathing heavily, Jane finally nodded – and then broke the mood by carefully, but determinedly moving out of the medical examiner's embrace, the smaller woman giving her best to not let her dismay about this show when her friend told her that she'd go outside for a moment, get some fresh air.

"Want me to come with you?" Maura offered, even though she already knew what the answer would be; and of course, Jane didn't disappoint her, immediately shaking her head, even managing a small smile as she gestured at the rather thin and slightly transparent gown the blonde was wearing to bed.

"If you go out like that", she then said, with a hint of humour in her voice, "I'll need to take my gun along, with all the weirdos out there."

"I could put on a robe", Maura replied, with a tiny bit of indignation, the sparkle in her eyes showing though that she didn't really mean it; Jane's smile widened slightly while she shook her head yet again, then reassured her friend that she'd only be out for a minute and just needed to get a breather.

"Go to the bathroom, or back to bed, or whatever", she advised, already getting out of bed, straightening the oversized shirt she was wearing, "I'll be okay, really. I'll see you in the morning."

"Alright", Maura agreed, knowing she wouldn't be able to make Jane change her mind anyway; the taller woman gave her another smile, silently trying to reassure her that she alright, then got out of bed and, without another word, left the room and headed for the front door, stepping outside and looking around in caution before she took in a few deep breaths, letting the cool night air help calm her down.

Deep inside, she knew that another embrace from Maura would calm her down more and faster than all the fresh air in the whole wide world ever could; she also knew though that, if she let the blonde get that close to her again in her upset and vulnerable state, she might do something which she'd regret, thus having fled outside, holding back a sigh as she took a few steps away from the door, then turned to look up at what she knew was Maura's bedroom window – and that was when someone slammed into her from behind and pushed her face first against the wall, one gloved hand pressing down on her mouth to muffle her startled cry while the other pressed something cold and hard against her throat.


	7. Chapter 7

Her first instinct was to reach for her gun, but then, she had to remember with a flash of fear that she had left it upstairs, in the guestroom; and thus, she did the only thing she could – she froze, holding as still as possible, breathing harshly through her nose as the hand still clamped down on her mouth, her attacker standing so close to her that she could feel the warmth of their body and the hot breath on her cheek.

"Don't scream", a strangely slurred voice mumbled into her ear, sounding as if the owner spoke through a mouthful of mud, "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. Alright?"

As far as the grip the attacker had on her, Jane nodded, trying not to let her surprise show – even though the voice had been deep and the odd sound had distorted it somewhat, it still had been recognizable as clearly female, and her mind ran wild as she tried to figure out who this could be.

"Alright", she heard the woman mumble behind her, then the hand vanished from her mouth; she gulped in a big breath, then almost had to bite down on her tongue to keep quiet, the cold object still against her throat, held at an angle which didn't allow her to see what it was, but she didn't need much imagination to guess that it was some kind of knife.

"You're working the gangbanger case, aren't you", the woman now demanded to know, earning another weak nod; for a few moments, there was silence, then she spoke on, and Jane was surprised to hear not only anger in her voice, but a deep-seated despair as well. "Back off. They're getting what they deserve. Back off and let me finish and no one else will be harmed. Only them."

"You know I can't do that", Jane almost whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as she almost anticipated the pain of having her throat cut, but finding herself unable to say anything else, knowing that agreeing wasn't an option, "but we can help you, no matter what happened, we can figure something out…"

Again, there was silence, just long enough to give Jane a tiny spot of hope that maybe, she had gotten through to the woman; and then, the assailant responded, the anger now fully gone, and only the despair left.

"No one can help me anymore", she told the detective, the cold thing vanishing from her throat moments later, "so don't bother. Back off. Let me finish. And take care of your… friend in there."

And then, the presence behind her vanished, and immediately, Jane spun around; she called out "Hey!" after the retreating figure, the baggy clothing making it impossible for her to tell anything about their figure, the pulled-up hood of the sweater keeping her from even seeing the hair colour or hair style of the retreating woman, "wait! Stop! We can help you!"

To her dismay, the woman didn't even react the slightest, but kept running, and soon was out of sight; with an annoyed huff, Jane gave up, knowing that chasing after her without a weapon or even proper shoes would be useless, her heart racing up to her chest as she turned and hurried back into the house, her moments of fear already forgotten as her mind raced, trying to figure out what to make of this and how it could be used to solve the case.

* * *

"Yes, I'm sure she's the one", Jane told Frost on the phone not even ten minutes later, after having woken Maura to tell her what had happened and then ringing the detective out of his dreams, "she told me to back off and that we can't help her, and that they'll get what they deserve. She didn't exactly threaten me, but she did say that she'd hurt me if she had to."

"Well, we can't back off", Frost gave back while Maura scooted closer to her friend on the couch and gave her a worried look, afraid for her stability after this happening to her so shortly after the nightmare, "so what do we do? Do you think she'll come after you again?"

"I don't know", Jane sighed, running her free hand through her hair, "she might. She could have killed me out there, but she didn't, and you should have heard how she sounded. Not pissed or something, not after a while, she just sounded… sad. Depressed."

"Now we know for sure it's personal", Frost mumbled, sounding as if he was talking more to himself than to his partner, "with all that talk about giving them what they deserve…"

"Yes", Jane agreed, briefly glancing at Maura when the medical examiner put one hand on her arm and giving her a small smile, signalling that she was okay, "first thing tomorrow morning, we'll look up if any women reported being attacked by those guys. Perhaps one of them decided to fight back."

"Sexual assault", Frost nearly blurted out in reply, making the detective flinch with how loud his voice had been; a questioning noise came from her, and quickly elaborated, prompting Jane to raise an eyebrow as she had to admit that his theory was making sense.

"The castration", he stated, all tiredness gone from his voice now, "perhaps it's someone they raped, you know that both victims had sexual assault among the offenses they were reported for, but they weren't locked up, so maybe, she's taking justice in her own hands."

"Possible", Jane agreed, "okay, we'll check this tomorrow. Keep it in mind, write it down if you have to, I got the feeling that we are really close to cracking this case now."

"We might be", Frost gave back, a bit more cautious about it than his partner; she let out a snort in reply, then told him to get some more rest and ended the call, looking at Maura afterwards, her next words making the medical examiner raise an eyebrow.

"Those cuts in their cheeks", the detective started, "this is a long shot, but… If you got such cuts, and survived, would it affect your speaking?"

"That would depend on how deep they are", Maura gave back, once again skilfully avoiding it to guess, "if the nerves and muscles have been damaged enough, it's quite possible. Why do you ask?"

"She sounded… strange", Jane let her know, briefly frowning to herself as she tried to recall the exact sound of the woman's voice, "as if she's, I don't know, talking through a mouthful of jelly. Could having such cuts, or scars, make a person sound like that?"

"If they went deep enough, yes", Maura confirmed, to the detective's relief not trying to avoid a direct answer this time, "as I said, if enough damage has been done to the tissue…"

"They cut her up", the black haired woman mumbled, letting out a heavy breath, "Frost was right, this is about sexual assault, but they cut her up, too… Probably left her to die and she didn't do them the favour and now she's out to kill them."

"Jane, this is very much guesswork", Maura chided, more in an attempt to hide how disturbed she was by the thought than for real dismay about the guessing, "we can't know if…"

"I know", Jane interrupted her, sinking back into the couch and running both hands through her hair as she took in a deep breath, fighting hard to collect her thoughts, "I know we can't know, Maura, but it makes perfect sense. They raped her, so she castrates them, as Frost said, and they cut her up, so she does the same to them."

"Perhaps", the medical examiner evenly gave back, earning a dark look from her best friend – before the taller woman suddenly came to her feet, stretching and once more running her hands through her hair, sounding determined and confident when she spoke up again.

"We better get some rest, too", she told Maura, "we have a lot of work ahead of us… tomorrow…"

And that was when the realisation of how close she had been to getting killed set in at last, her voice faltering, then breaking at the last word; she fell silent and swallowed heavily, suddenly feeling the cold of the knife against her throat again, the attacker's hot breath on her cheek, heard the hoarse voice as it mumbled into her ear, telling her to back off and to take care of her friend, something which might have been a genuine piece of advice – or a threat, implying what might be done to Maura, should she not do what the assailant had demanded.

"Jane", Maura said in alarm, having noticed how rapidly her friend's face was paling, "are you…"

She didn't even need to finish her sentence, at once realizing that it was useless to ask if Jane was alright; instead, she hurriedly came to her feet as well and wrapped the detective in yet another hug, holding her tight, once again feeling the taller woman stiffen momentarily before she accepted the gesture, even going as far as hiding her face in Maura's shoulder, a shaky breath escaping her yet again.

"I won't let her hurt you", she then pressed out, before Maura could come up with any encouraging words, "she told me to take care of you, and she might come after you if we don't back off, but I won't let her hurt you…"

"I know", Maura reassured her at once, rubbing her back soothingly again, "I know you'll always protect me, you always have so far…"

In response, Jane pulled back from the hug just enough to be capable of looking at the smaller woman; their eyes met, and within the span of a single second, everything around them was forgotten, each woman only capable of focusing on the other, Maura's breath hitching in her throat when Jane reached up with one hand and ran the tips of her fingers down her cheek, with a touch so light and careful, as if she was afraid to break her, should she touch her too harshly.

"Jane", Maura breathed, just loud enough to be heard by the taller woman, her heart hammering up to her throat as she, without even noticing fully what she was doing, started to lean closer to the detective; and a second before their lips touched, Jane suddenly cleared her throat and moved back, not even a full step, but enough to break the mood and destroy the moment.

"We should get some rest", the detective repeated her earlier words, her gaze slipping away from Maura's and studying the all at once very interesting carpet between her feet, "there's a lot of work and digging waiting for us tomorrow."

"…yes, of course, sure", Maura agreed almost mechanically, finding it hard to believe that this really just had happened, that she had been this close to kissing her best friend and then it hadn't happened, "you're right…"

She didn't move though, remaining perfectly still where she was; Jane gave her a brief, helpless glance, looking as if she wanted to say something, but then clearly deciding against it, just nodding before she turned and walked off without another word, not even looking back to see if Maura was following her.

Looking after her, the medical examiner remained where she was, until the detective had vanished up the stairs; and then, she sat down heavily on the couch and buried her face in her hands, asking herself why Jane hadn't let the kiss happen after all and if there was anything she had done wrong, or could have done to make the whole situation end differently.


	8. Chapter 8

In the next morning, none of the two spoke much as they had a quick breakfast, then drove to the police station together; Jane was focusing hard on driving, harder than it would have been necessary, and Maura sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window, only glancing at her best friend every now and then whenever she thought the detective wouldn't notice.

Unbeknownst to her, Jane did notice, but didn't let it show; she was concentrating on the road so hard that she was almost frowning, not looking at Maura once, replaying the scene from the previous night again and again in her mind's eye, asking herself what had possessed her when she had stepped back – after all, kissing Maura had been the top item on her wishlist for quite some time now, and she couldn't believe that she had been so close to doing just that and then had blown it.

_I don't even want to imagine how much I hurt Maura with that, _she thought to herself as they finally reached the police station and she pulled into the next free parking lot, _and she wanted it, dammit, Rizzoli, she wanted you to kiss her, why didn't you?_

She had to fight down the impulse to smash her fist down on the steering wheel, knowing it would only make Maura ask her what was wrong; instead, she killed the engine a bit harsher than necessary, muttering "I'll see you later" to Maura before she got out of the car, fast enough to miss the crestfallen expression on her best friend's face. Taking in a few deep breaths, Maura fought hard to regain control, and managing to do so after half a minute, a carefully composed neutral expression on her face when she got out of the car as well and followed Jane; since the detective had to go upstairs and the medical examiner downstairs, they split up at the elevator, the black haired woman making sure that the doors had closed full before she slumped back against the wall and let out a groan, balling her hands into helpless fists as she asked herself what the Hell was wrong with her.

"Dammit", she mumbled to herself, frustrated at her own inability to just give in to her feelings, not even sure why she had held back, "I'm so sorry, Maura…"

All at once, the urge to run downstairs, grab Maura and apologize and then kiss her at last was so strong that it almost overwhelmed her; and before she realized what she was doing, she was already reaching for the button that would take her back downstairs, pulling her hand back in the last second, telling herself that she couldn't do this now, that they both needed time to think about what almost had happened between them and that she had work to do, after all.

Part of her, one deep inside her and one which she could easily ignore, knew that she was merely stalling for time, too scared to face Maura after what had happened and perhaps find herself confronted with the doctor's anger; and thus, she put on a brave façade the moment the elevator doors slid open, her steps secure and determined as she moved to her desk and nodded a greeting at Frost, the younger man immediately coming to his feet the moment she entered.

"I already started on the search", he let her know after a brief greeting, gesturing at his computer, "narrowing it down on sexual assault and bodily harm. Six of the fifteen gang members were reported several times for both, but never found guilty, either for lack of witnesses or evidence or both. They always had watertight alibis for the nights in question."

"Always?" Jane frowned, moving over to his computer to peer at the screen, "you mean they were reported more than once?"

"Yes", Frost confirmed, "the six of them have been reported four times in total, two of them are dead by now, Locksdale and Weir. My guess is they are still out there because… well, in three of the four cases, the victim was found dead, the report was made by witnesses, and in the one case the victim didn't die, she committed suicide shortly afterwards."

"Wait", Jane perked up in reply, looking at him again, "the victims are dead? All of them?"

"Those of the reported cases, yes", Frost gave back, knowing what she was thinking, "but if the woman who visited you didn't report them, of course she wouldn't show up on this list."

"But why not report them", Jane pondered out loud, focusing on the list again, "you know, I told this to Maura yesterday, when she talked to me, she sounded as if she's got her mouth full of jelly or something, and Maura confirmed that, if she had her cheeks cut up the way she did to those men, she might sound like that. And after what you said about the castration, well… I bet she's after them for vengeance, because they raped her and cut her up, but why not report them?"

"Maybe she didn't trust the system", Frost helplessly shrugged, not sure what his partner wanted to hear from him, "or had other reasons, who knows? You know how high the dark figure for rape and sexual assault is here."

"Yeah", the black haired woman had to agree, her gaze drifting to the computer monitor again, "but… The hospital would be required to report it, right? If they got a woman with such facial injuries and obviously a victim of sexual assault?"

"You know they are", her partner shrugged in response, "they would be obliged to report it, but they don't always do it, depending on how hectic the night is. If they got a ton of other emergencies, they maybe just ignored that, or someone planned to do it later and then forgot."

"Shouldn't happen, but does happen", Jane agreed with a sigh, "great, so now we know the possible remaining victims, and we have a vague idea whom to look for, namely a severely scarred woman who might or might not be a pharmacist, chemist or doctor. Narrows it down."

"I'll start calling the hospitals", Frost gave back, "Glasgow Grins are not every day injuries, somebody might remember something."

"You do that", Jane nodded, moving back to her own computer, "I'll look into the cases we had with those nice men involved and call them. Maybe they'll be willing to give us some information if it's their ass on the line."

She hadn't even fully sat down yet, her bottom merely touching the chair, when her phone went off at her belt; frowning, she raised again and took a look at it, a sigh escaping her when she saw who was calling her.

"Dispatch", she then informed Frost, "and I bet this month's wages that by now, we only have three more guys left to call. She's been busy before or after her visit to me, and she killed another one."

* * *

"Well, this is new", Jane commented half an hour later, at yet another murder scene; next to her, Frost just gulped noisily while Maura nodded, her gaze focused on the dead body, careful not to look at the woman by her side. Already during the ride to the crime scene, Frost had noticed the tension between the two women, and had been silently wondering to himself what had happened, but not daring to ask; now, he was too busy to keep his stomach's content where it was to notice how they made sure to keep a bit of distance to each other as they both crouched down next to the dead man.

"No castration this time", Maura observed, "but the cuts to the face are identical to the two previous victims…"

"…and she took the eyes this time instead of his junk", Jane finished, grimacing as she looked at the empty, bloodied holes where just hours ago, perfectly healthy eyes had been, "not to mention the little something she left us."

As if this had been a cue, the sound of a camera snapping came up behind her, showing that Frost had gotten his stomach under control enough to take a picture; automatically, Jane looked up, at the motive for his photograph, the writing on the wall which had been left behind for them in a by now rusty red, written in the victim's blood.

_In morte ultima veritas_

_Vincit veritas in omni re_

_Every harvest takes me closer to my aim_

"In death is the final truth", Maura translated without even needing to think about it, making Jane look at her, really look at her, for the first time since the awkward breakfast; she was a bit taken aback by how upset the doctor looked, but remained quiet, giving her friend a chance to translate the rest of the phrase.

"Truth conquers all things", the medical examiner did just that, "and the last sentence seems vaguely familiar, but I'm not sure why."

"Googling it right now", Frost threw in, typing away on his phone, glad that this gave him something else to look at than the mangled corpse on the floor of the dingy apartment it had been found in, "just give me another… There we go. It's from a song, band called Kamelot. You're into metal, Doctor?"

"No", Maura declined at once, "but now that you mentioned the band name, I do believe one of the lab techs listened to it one time I needed something from them."

"Let me have a look at that", Jane claimed, taking the chance given to move away from Maura and to Frost's side, peering at the phone, frowning as she quickly read through the lyrics.

"My, that's dark", she then commented, "for death is the answer to life?"

"Kinda fitting", Frost shrugged, "but why leave this message here for us? It'd make more sense if it was another warning, telling us to back off, but I don't read that as a warning to us. More to the others of the gang."

"If she's not mentally stable, and I highly doubt she is, it might make sense to her", Jane shrugged, "and that bit about truth… If she's one of those who didn't report what they did to her, because she didn't trust the system, as you said, Frost, she might be telling us that the truth is being revealed now, with their deaths."

"And she's kinda right", Frost had to admit, "if she really didn't report it, we only figured out because of her kills that they attacked her."

"Yeah", Jane mumbled, looking at the dead man on the floor again, "but why take this man's eyes, and not his… well, parts? Maura, do we know who he is yet?"

In response, the medical examiner held up the wallet she had found in the victim's pocket, handing it to Jane without a word; again Frost noticed the tension, but didn't say a word, merely watching in interest how his partner made it all too obvious that she avoided touching Maura's fingers as she accepted the wallet, even though both of them were wearing gloves.

"Duncan Spencer", she read out loud, "Frost, that guy one of our six?"

"Yes", Frost confirmed after briefly consulting the printout he had brought along, "so she got half of them by now. And at that pace, she'll be done within the next three nights."

"We have to stop her", Jane replied at once, making both her partner and Maura nod, "right now, she might think that killing them all will end her pain, but it won't. And what will she do then?"

"Either go on killing, or kill herself", Maura was the one to answer that, "previous, similar cases show that the victim had to find a way to release the pain even after the initial goal has been accomplished, and often, suicide seemed like the last option to them."

"We have to find her, and stop her, before this happens", Jane stated, earning nods from both Maura and Frost again, "to save the lives of those three remaining guys, and to save her from herself. Let's get this guy to the morgue asap and then let's start calling the other three and the hospitals."

"Gotcha", Frost gave back at once, while Maura just nodded once more as she straightened up again; for a moment, she looked as if she wanted to say something, then changed her mind and just turned to head for the front door, Jane following her after a moment with Frost looking on in confusion, not having an idea what was going on.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I'll be off to England from tomorrow on, where I won't have access to my computer, so there won't be any updates until I get back. I'll update again after my return on Saturday :)

* * *

"I need you in the morgue for a minute, Jane", Maura said the second they had reached the precinct again and had gotten out of the car, before the detective had a chance to storm off; for a second, she felt tempted to decline and just walk back to the bullpen, then told herself not to be such a damned coward and merely nodded, telling Frost that she'd join him in a minute and making him nod, a look of relief on his face as he hurried off, the tension which had been between the two women clearly having affected him, as well.

They walked to the morgue in complete silence, without the playful banter they usually shared whenever they had a few moments of privacy; only once they had reached the morgue, Maura turned to look at the taller woman, keeping her voice carefully neutral and even when she spoke up, saying just a few words, but those being enough to make Jane's heart clench up with fear. "We need to talk."

"…yes", Jane forced herself to agree after a moment, even though every fibre of her wanted to turn and run; she never had been a coward when it came to chasing and facing criminals, murderers and psychopaths, but dealing with such emotional issues always had been hard for her, and probably always would be.

"We both know what almost happened yesterday night", Maura went on after a few moments of silence, during which she had been waiting to see if Jane would take the first step, even though she already had known she wouldn't, "but for the sake of clarity, I'll say it out loud anyway."

She gave Jane another moment to protest, just in case, but the detective remained quiet, just looking at her; and thus, she went on, making a point of holding the taller woman's gaze as she did so.

"We almost kissed, Jane", she put it rather bluntly, for a moment feeling bad about it when she heard the soft wince coming from the detective in response, quickly speaking on, hoping that her next words would soften the blow, knowing that they were the make or break of their friendship and what it might turn into, but also well aware of the fact that it couldn't go on like this.

"And we would have, had it been up to me", she thus said, noticing how Jane's eyes widened in surprise, but not falling silent, having more to say, "because lately, I've noticed that my… fondness for you has been growing, and changing, from mere friendship to something else. I fully understand it though if it's not the same for you, if it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, it was a vulnerable moment for you, even though you don't like to hear that, and…"

She realized that she was babbling, and forced herself to shut up, before she could go fully googlemouth on her best friend; blinking, Jane just kept staring at her, clearly having a hard time processing all she just had said.

"Well", Maura thus said after almost a full minute had ticked by in silence, now starting to feel uncomfortable, "that's… really all I had to say, so…" She felt as if she was regressing back to her teenage days, to the socially awkward, insecure girl she had been back then; from the way her cheeks started to heat up, she could tell that she was blushing, and swallowed heavily, suddenly feeling at the brink of tears as she asked herself what use her brilliant mind and all her knowledge was to her if she couldn't use any of it to resolve this situation.

And then, just as she wanted to turn away and hide her face and the tears which were threatening to fill her eyes, Jane moved, closing the physical and the emotional distance between them with one easy step, grasping one of her hands and holding it tenderly, her voice low, but perfectly audible as she finally said something.

"I'm so, so sorry", she told the smaller woman, Maura not even noticing that she was holding her breath, "for being such a coward, and for hurting you like that. I just… I didn't…"

She fell silent, took in a few deep breaths; and then, she decided that no more words would be needed, that she wouldn't find the right ones anyway, and that a simple gesture could resolve all their problems and make it perfectly clear what she was trying to say, her other hand coming up to yet again caress Maura's cheek, her being the one to move closer this time, capturing the medical examiner's lips with her own moments later.

Without hesitating for the blink of an eye, Maura responded to the kiss, her hand freeing itself from Jane's grasp so she could bring up both arms and wrap them around the taller woman's neck while she felt the detective's arms embrace her and pull her closer; with their bodies pressed together this way, there was only one thing they could do to make it perfect, and they did it, their kiss deepening, a shudder running through both Maura and Jane the seconds their tongues made contact for the first time.

Finally, they were forced to pull apart again, due to oxygen becoming an issue; breathing heavily, they looked at each other, still in a tight embrace, Jane's hands tenderly caressing the blonde's back, the gentle touch sending more shivers up and down her spine.

"Who would have thought", the detective finally broke the silence, "all it needed for me to show some guts was a late-night visit from a woman on a psychotic break and then half a day of not really talking to each other. Easy-peasy, really."

"If I had known that, I would not have talked to you sooner", Maura gave back with a giggle, making the taller woman let out a throaty chuckle as well, the sound being enough to make the doctor's heart race, "even though I might have had some difficulty about finding a mentally unstable woman to threaten you."

"Oh, I'm sure you could have done it, if you'd really set your mind to it", Jane replied, earning another giggle from the blonde; they smiled at each other for another moment, then the detective decided that they had talked enough and bent down for yet another kiss, something Maura gave more than willingly, both of them forgetting all their worries and concerns about where this might lead as they realized how good and how _right _this felt, lost in each other and their feelings they had for one another.

* * *

"Obviously, you settled things with Dr Isles", Frost commented as Jane came strolling into the bullpen with a happy smirk on her face; she gave him a brief hard look, not sure what exactly he meant, then decided that it had been a harmless remark and that he surely had noticed the tension between them, merely nodding in response, making him smile slightly as well, his concern for their friendship touching her, an emotion she carefully hid from him though.

"Any luck with the hospitals?" she asked instead of giving him any details about the reconciliation with the doctor; to her dismay, he sighed and shook his head, holding up yet another list with six hospitals on it, four of them crossed out.

"I got two left", he added unnecessarily, "and at those where I called already, the people I spoke to promised to ask around if anyone remembers something."

"Well, it's better than nothing", the detective sighed, throwing an unhappy look at the list her partner was still holding up, as if it was the piece of paper's fault, "call those two left then, and I'll start on the three guys still alive, send cars to their last known address to have them taken here."

"You know, I thought about that last victim while you were downstairs with the doctor", Frost gave back, prompting her to halt in mid-movement and give him a questioning glance, making him go on, "about why he wasn't castrated, but had his eyes gouged out."

"So?" Jane prompted, giving him another curious glance, "why do you think? Or are you channelling Maura now and refuse to guess?"

"He wasn't doing the deed with the others", Frost told her in reply, making it clear that he wasn't channelling Maura, "he was on the lookout. Or perhaps just watching what they were doing to her."

"Makes sense", Jane had to agree, "punishing the rapists by castrating them and the one who watched by taking his eyes… It's twisted and quite gruesome, but it does make sense."

"Yes", Frost nodded, "especially if she's out for revenge, and by now, I think we're pretty sure that she is."

"Can't say that I blame her", Jane mumbled, for the first time saying out loud what she had been thinking ever since the first theories about the killer's motivations had started to form; to her relief and slight surprise, Frost didn't react incredulous or shocked, but merely nodded, then let her know that he'd call the remaining two hospitals, making her nod as well before she moved to her desk, eager to make a few more phone calls so the last three remaining men would be brought to the precinct and could be questioned.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: I got back in one piece! England was amazing and I got so much new stuff. So let's not talk about how much I spent there… and let's have an update instead! :D

* * *

Not even half an hour later, the first of them was led into the interrogation room, a rather young man named Aaron Henderson; he looked nervous enough as he sat down, and the fact that both Jane and Frost were glaring at him didn't help, the video camera which was filming his every move not lessening his anxiety, either.

"I want a lawyer", were the first words out of his mouth, prompting the two detectives to exchange a look – before Jane leaned forward and spoke up first, just a hint of a threat in her voice.

"You might be better off if you invest in a bodyguard", she told him, making him gulp slightly, "surely you know by now what happened to your three buddies. Harold, Walter and Duncan."

"Y-yes", he gave back, the stutter in his voice only another sign for how nervous and probably guilty he felt, "they're dead…"

"They are", Jane confirmed, "and it's up to you and what you tell us how this ends for you. You can confess to what you did back then, and get a safe and comfy prison cell… Or you can tell us you don't know anything, we let you go and you might be next on the list."

"I never did nothin'", he replied at once, not really surprising her, even though she had to hold back a startled reaction when he went on, "I was always just the lookout. And sometimes I'd… hold them…"

"The ones your buddies raped", Jane asked to clarify, a bit surprised at how easy this was and how willing he was to talk; on the other hand, he knew by now that the talk of someone after him wasn't just idle threats, with three of his gang cronies dead and gone, fallen prey to said someone, and the prospect of being murdered just as gruesomely clearly had loosened his tongue.

"No", he gave back, surprising the detectives yet again, "not the victims, the… guys did that themselves. The others."

"Others, what others", Frost now spoke up for the first time, making the man look at him, sweat trickling down his cheeks as he shifted on his seat.

"The others", he then repeated, as if this would clarify anything, thankfully speaking on though before they had to ask him again, "the ones who were with the girls. We'd hold them and make sure…"

"…make sure that they are watching", Jane finished for him, fighting down the urge to grab and smack him across the face, something he could clearly read in her face since he shrank back in his chair again, gulping visibly.

"Did you always do this to men?" Frost wanted to know, Henderson's gaze moving to him again, "hold them and make them watch? And did you do anything else to them?"

"Sometimes, Harold would cut them after he was done", Henderson mumbled, finding the table very interesting all at once and studying it, "I never liked when he did that, it seemed so pointless and a bit crazy. He'd tell them they shouldn't look so sad or angry and then he'd say that he'd give them a smile and he cut them."

"Did he ever do this to a woman", Frost repeated the part of his questions which hadn't been answered, giving his best to hide his disgust and to sound kinder than Jane had, "or to the ones they raped?"

"Never to the ones they raped", Henderson replied at once, prompting the detectives to exchange yet another look, their suspicions confirmed with what he said next. "And yes, he did it to a woman, once, told her that she should be happy about how her girl finally got to be with a real man and that she should smile. I stopped going with them on their little hunts after that, it was just too much, the way she stared at him…"

Again fighting hard to hide his disgust, Frost asked a few more questions, about the woman in question and if he knew who she had been; Henderson declined them all though, making it clear he knew nothing about her, not even her name, and almost pleading them to be taken into custody once they declared the interview over.

"Please", he added when they didn't respond at once, "I don't wanna be cut up and castrated, or have my eyes cut out! Please?"

"…an officer will pick you up shortly", Jane replied, rising from her chair; Frost did the same, and together they left the room, the black haired woman letting out a heavy breath the moment the door had closed behind them.

"That was easier than I thought it would be", she then mumbled, running one hand through her hair, "I didn't expect him to sing so willingly. But if what he told us is true…"

"…then she's not after them because they raped her", Frost finished for her, grimacing as he thought of the man's words, "but because they raped her girlfriend, and they made her watch."

* * *

"Jane, this is dreadful", Maura stated quite some time later as they sat at lunch together and Jane, in a hushed voice so no one around would hear, had told her what they had learned from the man they had brought in; the two others hadn't been found yet, but both Jane and Frost figured that they had gotten enough information from Henderson, and that his cronies wouldn't have much to add to his recollection.

"Those horrible men", the medical examiner went on, shaking her head in outrage, "and those poor women and their spouses!"

"Yes, it's awful", the detective agreed at once, again keeping her voice low as she went on, knowing that what she would say next wasn't exactly agreeable for someone of her profession, "can't say that I really blame her for doing this. Having to watch her girlfriend get raped and then get cut up like that…"

"Vigilantism never leads to more safety though", Maura pointed out at once, earning another nod from the black haired woman, "and, as we said, her pain won't end once she killed them all."

"I wish we knew anything about her", Jane sighed in reply, picking at her salad, "at least a name or something. Frost is calling the hospitals again, but so far, no luck…"

"I'm sure there'll be a break in the case sooner or later", Maura tried to reassure her, then glanced around as if to make sure no one was listening – before she leaned closer, surprising the detective with what she said next.

"Talking about breaks", she began in a hushed voice, "you don't regret what we did down in the morgue, right?"

"What? No", Jane gave back at once, asking herself where this was coming from now, "why? Do you?"

"No", Maura answered just as quickly, "in fact, I am still very happy that it finally came to this. I just wanted to make sure because you haven't mentioned it yet."

"Because we are at work, Maur", the taller woman pointed out in response, "we really shouldn't discuss anything here. I'll come to your place with you after work, then we can talk, alright?"

"And do it again?" the blonde wanted to know, sounding so hopeful that it nearly made Jane chuckle, a hint of mischief in her gaze as she nodded; happily, Maura beamed at her, then leaned back into her seat, content with what Jane had told her and clearly looking forward to getting home later that day.

"You won't have to work overtime, right?" she asked, making the detective chuckle after all while she shook her head; now fully satisfied, Maura smiled at her, then focused on finishing her lunch again, the other woman doing the same moments later, content silence between them as they ate, the mere presence of each other being enough to make them feel relaxed and secure.


	11. Chapter 11

"Finally", Jane sighed out many hours later, kicking off her shoes before she let herself fall onto Maura's sofa, "what a tiring day. Talking to those gangrapist assholes really put an itch into my triggerfinger."

"Language, Jane", Maura admonished while she took off her shoes with much more care than the detective, hanging up her jacket as well before she moved to join her, "even though I can't say I don't understand you. Did you learn anything new?"

"No", Jane grumbled, sinking into the soft cushions, "they knew just as little about her as the first guy. And unlike him, they didn't want to be taken into custody, even when we told them about the drug. One of them even said, and I quote, 'I handled the bitch once, I'll handle her again.'."

"How very self-secure", the medical examiner commented, sitting down next to her, "let's hope he didn't overestimate himself. On the other hand, maybe he should, after what you told me about the pastime activities of his friends and him. There was no way you could have held them anyway? After they basically confessed to those crimes?"

"…there would have been", Jane gave back after a moment's pause, "but they both agreed to be under constant surveillance through the police until she's caught, and we hope that, if we use them as bait, we'll accomplish that."

"Quite risky", Maura pondered out loud, "but it might be our best shot right now to catch her."

"Yes", the taller woman agreed, then shifted slightly on the couch so she was facing Maura, propping her elbow up on the backrest and leaning her head on her hand, reaching out with her other one to run the tip of her index finger over the doctor's thigh, satisfied when almost immediately, Maura blushed slightly.

"But enough of the case", Jane rasped, sounding a bit hoarser and lower than usual, "I believe there was something to talk about?"

"Yes, but your touch is messing with my ability to think", Maura chided, giving her a strict look, "there are indeed some things we should clear up before taking this any further. Like, what are we?"

"What do you mean, what are we", Jane repeated, at a loss, "we're Jane and Maura. Detective and medical examiner. Why?"

"Not what I meant", Maura shook her head, "I meant the two of us. Are we still friends? Friends with benefits? An item? A couple?"

"I'm definitely not gonna be friends with benefits with you", the detective shot back at once, shaking her head incredulously, "you mean too much to me for that!"

To her surprise, Maura started beaming at her in response; before she could ask her what she was so happy about though, the doctor was already speaking up, and clarifying before the question even had been asked.

"That answers the question pretty much", she stated, earning a slightly confused look from Jane, "because you mean too much to me, as well, for such an arrangement, so the logical answer is that we are a couple. If you're okay with that, of course."

"Yes", Jane replied at once, before that tiny voice within her, the voice which was scared of messing up and ruining everything, could try to protest and maybe suggest that they should take it easier, "perfectly okay with that."

"Great", Maura gave back, positively glowing – before she scooted closer on the couch and, without bothering to say more, kissed the detective yet again, Jane immediately and happily responding to the kiss, a low sigh escaping her when she felt the doctor's hands slide up and down her back, caressing her tenderly – and then beneath her shirt, making the contact directly from skin to skin and sending a shiver through her while she pulled back from the kiss, looking at the smaller woman with a raised eyebrow.

"You sure you want to take the next step already?" she then asked, just to be on the safe side, "because, I really wouldn't mind, but I don't want to rush or anything…"

"I've been fantasizing about this moment way too long to wait just another second longer", Maura gave back in complete seriousness; and before Jane could ask her to elaborate on that, she was kissing her again, her hands now sliding to her front, her tender caress quickly making the detective forget any questions she might have had as all she could focus on was Maura and the way her touch was making her feel deep inside.

* * *

When the phone rang and tore her out of her sleep, Jane at first had no idea what was going on and where she was; then, the memories came back, of the wonderful time she'd had with Maura on the couch before they had moved to the bedroom, having fallen asleep there after even more wonderfulness, the blonde now stirring beside her as the loud ringing of the phone had woken her up, as well.

"It's 3:24 am", Jane realized as she grabbed the phone and stared at it with bleary eyes, asking herself why they had bothered to take their clothing along from the living room to the bedroom, "this better be important."

With those words, she hit the button which took the call, barking a rather annoyed "What?!" into it, only to sit up straight moments later as Frost's voice reached her ear, sounding fully awake and urgent.

"They got her", he told her, not bothering to explain, knowing she'd immediately figure it out, anyway, "I'm at the station, but she's not talking to me or anyone else. She insists on speaking to the doc and you, that's all she says."

"On our way", Jane gave back at once, then ended the call, already out of bed and halfway dressed by the time Maura had managed to turn on the small lamp on her bedside table.

"They got her", she repeated what Frost had said to her girlfriend – _girlfriend! _her brain interrupted her with celebratory thoughts, not all too helpful in the current situation, _Maura's your girlfriend!, _"she insists on talking to the two of us."

"Oh!" Maura gave back, not all too smart, but at least already awake enough to get out of bed, as well and begin getting dressed, "the surveillance worked, then, even though I wouldn't have expected them to catch her so quickly."

"Neither did I", Jane admitted, then made a few impatient gestures when the blonde didn't get done immediately; and not even five minutes after the call, they sat in Jane's car and drove to the precinct, getting there at record time thanks to the rather quiet streets and the detective not minding a traffic rule or two on the way there.

Frost was already waiting for them at the elevator, to their delight having coffee at the ready for them; he didn't make a comment about the fact that Jane had been spending the night at Maura's, since this wasn't such a rare occurrence, but still Jane had time to wonder if he had noticed something, since he gave them a rather curious look, didn't make any comment though, only speaking up to tell them that the woman was in interrogation room number three.

"Her name's Terry, Terry Rhyne", he added as they walked there together, "short for Teresa, according to the ID she had on her. That's all we got from her."

"Alright, thanks", Jane gave back, then took in a deep breath and a large sip of her coffee before she opened the door leading to the interrogation room and entered, with Maura right behind her, her gaze immediately falling on the woman sitting at the table, the way her hands were positioned close beneath the table's surface showing that they had been cuffed to it, something they only did with the most dangerous criminals out there.

"Hi, Miss Rhyne", the detective greeted her in the kindest and friendliest voice she could manage, giving her best to hide how much the severe scarring disturbed her; the scars ran from both corners of the woman's mouth all the way to her ears, perfect matches of the cuts she had carved into her victims, deep dents in the skin and muscle beneath, too deep to be covered up by make-up.

"Detective", the woman gave back, holding her gaze, "I'm impressed. Coming here in the middle of the night."

"Well, my partner out there told me that you wanted to speak to me", Jane replied, putting the coffee cup down on the table and taking a seat, prompting Maura to do the same, "and, as you know, I've been working your case, so here I am. Would you like something to drink, Terry? I can call you Terry, right?"

"You can call me whatever you want", she replied, not sounding as if she cared much, "it doesn't matter. Nothing matters anymore. You should have let me finish."

"You know I couldn't do that", Jane carefully replied – so far, the woman was remarkably calm, but she didn't want to risk a freak-out, knowing that this wasn't unrealistic with someone who wasn't fully mentally stable.

"Dr Isles", Terry suddenly lost her focus on the detective, her gaze moving to the doctor instead, startling Maura with how bright and aware it was, clearly not the eyes of someone in the middle of a psychotic break, "you came, as well. Thank you. Detective, she means much to you, doesn't she?"

"…she does", Jane confirmed after a second, aware that this was being filmed and not wanting to reveal too much about Maura and herself, not yet; the woman nodded in response, as if she had expected this, still sounding strangely calm as she went on.

"Sarah meant a lot to me, as well", she told the two women evenly, "she was my everything. I would have died for her, but I couldn't protect her from… them. There were too many and they were too strong…"

"We know what happened to you, and to Sarah", Jane replied, now sounding soothing again, "and believe me, the three of them who are still alive will go to jail for what they did. We got one of them there already, and the other two will be arrested soon enough."

"Jail isn't enough", Terry gave back at once, sounding just a tad more heated now, just enough to let them both notice, "they deserve what I did to them, and more, each and every one of them!"

"It won't help", Jane told her, keeping her voice carefully levelled, not wanting to upset her even further, "I know, I've been there, not in the same situation as you, but… There was this man, Hoyt, a psychopath, after me and then after Maura, to get to me, and I killed him. It didn't make the pain stop, and it didn't make the nightmares stop."

"You should have backed off", the murderer brought out in response, now sounding as if she was close to tears all at once, "like I told you, and you should have let me finish… Now I can't, I can't finish, and I'll fail her again, I promised her I'd take them down, one by one…"

"You wanted to reveal the truth about them", Maura now spoke up, making her look at her, "and you did, we know now what they did, and they will be punished for it."

"It's not enough", Terry replied again, swallowing heavily, "jail isn't enough for them, not after what they did… You should know, detective, jail wasn't enough for Hoyt, either!"

"It would have been, if I'd had the choice", Jane gave back, making sure to hold her gaze, "but I didn't."

"They left us to die", the woman tonelessly replied, "out there on the street, after they got done… And I promised her I'd make them pay, just before she died, and now I failed her…"

"You didn't", Jane tried to reach her over that angle, figuring that this was the most important part to her about the whole situation, "you brought them to justice, they might be too stupid to realize it yet, but with what they told us, they basically confessed to… attacking your girlfriend and you, and we got it all on tape. They'll be in jail for a long time."

"Jail's not enough!" Terry roared in reply, jerking up in her seat until the handcuffs connected to the underside of the table held her back and forced her to remain in a rather awkward, crouched position, Maura flinching back at this sudden outburst while Jane somehow managed not to move, even though she was just as startled as her girlfriend.

"Not for what they did!" the young woman went on, glaring at the two with such intensity that it sent shivers up and down the medical examiner's back, "we never did anything to harm anyone, never, and we were happy, and then they attacked us and did all those horrid things to her, just because they could! And _they made me watch and there was nothing I could do!" _

And with the last words, she gave a shockingly strong jerk at the handcuffs, a gasp coming from Maura as the wood of the table splintered and she broke free; she lunged forward and halfway across the table, and Jane reacted with stunning speed, shooting up from her chair and forward to meet her, and after a brief scuffle which happened too fast for Maura to follow, had her pinned on the table flat on her back, breathing just a bit heavier, the medical examiner finding herself quite impressed.

"Listen to me!" Jane snapped at the killer, raising her voice as well to make sure she'd be heard, "I know you're hurting, I know what it's like! I've been there, I know!"

"You know nothing", Terry snarled at her – before she, with another burst of unexpected strength, suddenly reared up, with enough speed and power to surprise the detective, a pained yelp coming from the taller woman when the murderer headbutted her, the noise of her nose breaking at the impact awfully loud in her own head, the world spinning around her as she stumbled backwards and against the wall, her legs giving in beneath her moments later, Maura calling out in shock as she watched her slumped down, hot blood gushing from her nostrils and running down her face.

Eager to get to her side, the doctor started moving, but before she had taken more than two steps, Terry was in her way, snarling at her as she grabbed her; another startled cry came from the smaller woman, then she found herself forced around and the chain between the handcuffs was slung over her neck from behind, her eyes going wide as it momentarily cut off her flow of air, then lessened again, just enough to let her breathe.

Upon seeing her captured like that, Jane froze in mid-movement, her eyes going wide; and for a few moments, there was silence in the room, the only sounds being the harsh breathing of the three women while the detective had time to ask herself if no one outside had heard the scuffle and if someone would come in to check what was going on any moment, making the situation even more unstable.

"Don't do this, Terry", Jane finally dared to speak up, slowly coming to her feet, "don't hurt her…"

"Give me your gun and the key to those cuffs", the woman snarled in reply, tightening the chain again when the detective didn't react immediately, _"now!" _

Fighting hard to hide how freaked out she was, Jane produced the desired objects, slowly moving closer to hand them over; following the killer's instructions, Maura took the key first and unlocked the cuffs, the killer immediately snatching up the gun afterwards and pressing it against the medical examiner's jaw, making her wince as she stiffened.

"Let her go", Jane almost pleaded, forced to watch helplessly how Terry started to retreat with the medical examiner firmly in her grasp, reaching behind herself with one hand to open the door, "please, don't hurt her!"

"She's just my ticket out of here", Terry let her know in reply, already halfway out the door, "but don't try to follow me."

And with those words, she dragged Maura outside, startled sounds accompanying her appearance as the nearby policemen finally realized what was going on; all Jane could do was stand there helplessly and watch, her heart hammering up to her throat with fear for her girlfriend's life as they moved out of sight, asking herself where exactly this had gone so wrong.


	12. Chapter 12

At least, Jane had time to reflect once the killer had left the precinct, she had kept her word, and had let Maura go the moment they had been outside; Maura had rushed back to join her, upset and shaken up by what had happened, and had met her halfway, the detective rushing downstairs with Frost and a few uniformed cops in tow.

"Maura!" Jane called out the moment they spotted each other, hurrying up even more to reach her and pulling her into a tight embrace after tossing aside the bloodied hankie she had been pressing to her nose, not caring who was watching and what they might be thinking, "oh my God, are you alright?"

"Yes", the doctor brought in a trembling voice, clutching to the taller woman, trembling in her embrace, "she just went downstairs and once we'd reached the front doors, she let me go… Jane, we have to stop her…"

"Yes", the taller woman agreed at once, turning to look at Frost and the uniformed cops, "let's split up, go to the homes of the two still left out there. Frost, you go to Rodriguez', I'll take Donovan's, go, go, go, now!"

Nodding, Frost took two of the uniformed cops along as he rushed off towards the garage, Jane, Maura and two more cops hot on his heels; a few of them wondered why the medical examiner was coming along, but no one bothered to ask, simply accepting it as given, the group only splitting up when they reached the garage and got into their vehicles.

With no regard for traffic laws at all, Jane sped out of the garage the moment everyone had gotten into the car, the two cops in the backseat while Maura sat in the passenger seat next to her; momentarily, the detective felt tempted to put the blue light on the roof so she'd be identified as a member of the police force by the rest of the drivers, then decided against it, not wanting to alert the killer to their presence with the flashing lights.

Ignoring the way other drivers were honking and gesturing at her, she sped through the nightly streets, knowing that they had to be fast; as far as she knew, Terry didn't have a vehicle at her disposal anywhere near, but that didn't meant that maybe, she'd used the stolen gun to acquire one, or perhaps simply had taken a cab to Donovan's home, if she had gone there and not to the place where Frost and his company where going.

Thanks to her reckless driving, it didn't take long until they had reached Donovan's address, and Jane's heart sped up in her chest when she saw that the lights were burning in his small, rather run-down looking house; with screeching tires, she brought the car to a stop in front of it, blocking the street and not caring about it, hurrying to get out of the car the moment it had come to a standstill, Maura and the officers doing the same, each of them knowing that every second was crucial now.

"Stay back", Jane ordered the armed cops, "let Maura and me talk to her first, I almost had her in the interrogation room, and I want to end this without bloodshed."

"You want us to wait here?" one of the men asked, incredulous, "that's… not a good idea, detective, she's armed and dangerous!"

"And you think the four of us storming in there will keep her calm?" Jane shot back at once, "it won't, it might just be enough to set her off fully. Wait here and the moment you hear _anything, _come rushing in."

"…fine", the one who had protested agreed with a low mumble, still not looking all too convinced, "but we'll come bursting in with guns out the moment we hear as much as yelling!"

"Yeah, you do that", Jane agreed, then hurried for the front door without another word, Maura close behind her; for a moment, she felt like telling the doctor to stay back, as well, then decided against it, remembering that Terry had asked for both Maura and her after she'd been arrested.

The fact that the front door was not closed, but merely ajar, was a sign that the lights they had seen through the window hadn't simply been caused by any insomnia Donovan might have been suffering from; giving her best to be quiet, Jane pushed the door open, then moved into the house, immediately hearing voices from the nearby room.

"…back here, eh", Donovan was saying, not sounding all too afraid, "they let you go again so you can finish me off?"

"Not exactly", they heard Terry reply, following the sounds of their voices, Jane and Maura moved closer to the room, then slowly pushed the door which lead to it open, finding themselves in Donovan's bedroom, the man sitting upright with the blanket up to his waist, glancing at them as they entered, Terry doing the same, standing a few feet away from the door, her gaze immediately moving back to the man in the bed though, keeping the gun steadily aimed at him.

"Terry", Jane tried to gain her attention, the tension high in the room, "don't do this. Come on, give me the gun and let us help you, we can help you…"

"Touching", Donovan grumbled, shifting on the bed slightly, not looking perturbed by the fact that a gun was aimed at him, "so you plannin' to get her out of here in handcuffs before she can shoot me?"

"Shut up", Terry snarled at him, not even looking at the two women, "my finger's on the trigger, and so far, you haven't given me one good reason why I shouldn't pull it."

"Did it make you feel better to kill those others?" Jane demanded to know, eager to gain her attention, only late, when it all was over, realizing what a crucial mistake this had been, "did it lessen your pain? Or stop the nightmares?"

In response, the gun, which so far had been firmly trained on Donovan, wavered just the tiniest bit, and Terry turned her head to look at the detective, not even fully, just a few inches; it was enough for the man to act though, his hand shooting beneath the pillow by his side and coming up holding a gun, Maura's cry coming too late to warn them, a soft, barely audible _pop _coming from the silenced weapon as he pulled the trigger.


	13. Chapter 13

"No!" Jane cried out as the bullet hit, the impact hard enough to slam Terry back against the wall, blood spraying through the air; groaning, she slumped down, keeping Jane and Maura from seeing where exactly she had taken the hit, but before either of them could move, Donovan aimed the gun at them, smirking slightly, prompting them both to freeze.

"Well", he then stated, keeping the gun tracked on Jane while he got out of bed, "the famous detective Rizzoli held at gunpoint. Not bad for a simple gangbanger, eh?"

"You can't be serious", Jane gave back, disbelief all over her face, "you do know that we got two more officers outside, just waiting for the first sign of trouble. One yell will be enough to get them both running in here."

"Enough time to pull the trigger twice", Donovan shrugged, his gall unbelievable to both Jane and Maura, "and getting rid of the two of you will give me really good street cred. You may not know it, but you're quite… infamous among us."

"Yay", Jane gave back sarcastically, even though it might not be the best course of action in the current situation; Maura gave her a warning look, while Donovan just chuckled, amusement in his voice as he spoke on. "Glib in the face of danger, I like that about you, Rizzoli. You know, I was impressed when you shot through yourself to stop that one guy, that took guts."

"More guts than you'll ever have", Terry rasped from the floor, prompting him to turn around in surprise, his eyes wide; before he could do more than that though, she had pulled the trigger, the gunshot deafeningly loud in the not all too big room, a strangled gurgle coming from him as he stumbled back, then fell on the bed, crimson staining the white sheets seconds later.

With a heavy breath, Terry let the gun slump back down, as if all the strength suddenly had gone out of her; and a second later, both Jane and Maura were by her side, getting the first good look at the wound now, the two exchanging a worried look when they saw that the bullet had hit her in the stomach, just a few inches left of her navel, the way blood was pooling on the floor at her back showing that it had gone all the way through.

"We heard a shot!" a male voice cried out before either the detective or the medical examiner had a chance to say something, "what… oh Jesus Christ!"

"Call an ambulance", Jane ordered without looking at them, "now!"

They both nodded and hurried off again, back out to the car; neither Jane, nor Maura even noticed though, both of them focused on the dreadfully hurt woman, the detective now grasping her free hand, ignoring that it was slick with blood.

"You saved us", she mumbled, holding Terry's gaze, "thank you."

"Couldn't finish", the killer whispered in reply, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth and down her chin, "didn't… get them all. You were right, though… didn't lessen the hurt."

"I know", Jane gave back, squeezing her hand tenderly while Maura moved to get a closer look at the exit wound, briefly closing her eyes at how bad it was, "but those you didn't get won't harm anyone ever again, either. We'll make sure of that, Maura and me, I promise, and you'll just have to hold on until the ambulance arrives, you'll be okay and then we'll help you…"

She realized that she was babbling and made herself shut up, and from the weak smile appearing on the other woman's scarred face, she had noticed, as well; she let out a small cough, accompanied by another pained groan, then shook her head, sounding tired as she replied.

"Too late", she mumbled, prompting Jane to shake her head while Maura just placed one hand on her shoulder, her trained gaze telling her that the woman unfortunately, sadly, was right, "but… doesn't matter. Got nothing left now…"

"No, you'll be okay", the detective insisted, "they're already on their way, and they'll help you…"

"…see her again?" Terry rasped in reply, her voice by now so weak that it was barely audible; and finally, Jane accepted the facts as well, forcing herself to smile at the woman who had been hurt too badly for the ambulance to arrive in time to save her, nodding as she now took the dying woman's hand in both of hers, holding it tenderly, trying hard to give her some comfort in her last minutes.

"Yes, Sweetie", she then confirmed verbally as well, "I think you'll see her again… and she'll be happy to see you, and you'll be happy again, with her. Say hi to her from us, will you?"

Next to her, Maura took in a watery breath, but didn't say anything, just rubbing the woman's shoulder soothingly; knowing that she would start to cry as well, should she look at her lover, Jane kept her gaze focused on Terry, who now smiled slightly again, her eyes glazing over as her time was nearing rapidly.

"Sorry", she still brought out, looking at the medical examiner now, "didn't mean… to scare you. Or hurt you…"

"I know", Maura replied in a choked voice, "I understand why you did what you did, and you're not alone now… Jane and I are with you…"

"Thank you", the other woman gave back, barely audible now; her gaze moved back to Jane, and something in her eyes prompted the detective to move slightly so she could pull her into an embrace, not even noticing the blood staining her clothes, holding her tight to herself as she breathed in, out and then not in again, her body going limp in the detective's arms as she died, finally finding the peace she had been seeking for so long.

* * *

For almost a full minute, there was complete silence in the room after she had died, neither Jane, nor Maura saying anything; then, Jane let out a harsh "Dammit!" and slammed her fist against the wall, startling the medical examiner out of her reverie and into grabbing the detective's fist, keeping her from repeating the motion and perhaps hurting herself.

"Dammit", Jane repeated, her gaze fixed on the dead woman she still held in her arms, "she didn't deserve this, she's as much a victim as those guys, maybe even more than them… Damn them all to Hell!"

"Jane", Maura tried to gain her attention, moving closer to her, mindful of the dead body she still was clutching, "Jane, look at me, come on..."

Her own tears were still drying on her cheeks, and perhaps, it was the sight of them which set Jane off; she let out a racked, halfway held-back sob, all the excitement of the last few hours and the emotional turmoil breaking free, prompting Maura to hurriedly wrap her in an embrace and hold her, closing her eyes when she felt the taller woman shudder in her grasp.

"She didn't deserve this", Jane almost whimpered, the feeling of Terry's blood drying on her clothing only intensifying her anguish, "going through all of this, just to die in the end, because of that… that bastard…"

"I know", Maura told her, rubbing her back soothingly, "but there was nothing we could have done, the bullet did too much damage…"

With another sniffle, the detective pulled back from the embrace, just enough so she could look at the dead woman between them; for a few more moments, she was quiet, then finally spoke up, her words breaking Maura's heart all over again.

"I'm sorry", she almost whispered, "I'm sorry we couldn't save you, and I'm sorry it had to end like this."

And with the last words, she carefully lowered the corpse to the ground, then came to her feet, prompting Maura to do the same; both wiped at their eyes to hide the traces of their tears, just in time to make sure their cheeks were dry when the officers came back inside, with the ambulance men in tow now, the two paramedics looking startled at the carnage they found in the room.

"They're both dead", Jane told them as she moved past them, not even looking at them properly; they exchanged another look, then got to work while Jane and Maura walked outside, both of them taking in a few breaths of fresh air once they were outside.

"I just want to go home now", the detective mumbled after half a minute of silence, looking at her lover, "can we please just go and deal with this all tomorrow?"

"Yes", Maura agreed at once, relieved that the taller woman had said what she had been thinking, "let's go…"

Nodding, Jane turned back to the house once more, giving it a long, thoughtful look; then, she turned away from it and walked back to the car, nearly letting herself drop into the driver's seat, staring out at the window as she waited for the officers to join them, her voice barely audible, just loud enough for Maura to hear when she mumbled to herself, prompting the medical examiner to give her another concerned look and reach over with one hand to place it on her arm. "Case closed. Well fucking done, Rizzoli."


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: So, this is it – the final chapter. A big Thank You to all who read, put this on their faves, reviewed, followed… and hopefully enjoyed. :)

* * *

In the next day, Jane's mood hadn't improved, even though they did close the case fully; they determined where Terry had been living, and sent two cops there, the officers coming back with a stash of the drug the woman had used to paralyze her victims, clearly having home-made the stuff, and a bunch of other evidence, photos of the men she had been after and their schedules, making it obvious that she had been more than prepared when she had begun the kills.

The two men still alive were both locked up by the time the homicide detectives had finished going through the evidence, with trials for rape and murder in their very near future; thanks to the recordings from the interrogation room, the cases would be watertight this time, a small comfort for Jane after the tragic end the murder case had taken.

"You know it's not your fault, do you", Maura finally addressed her main concern about the whole situation as they met for lunch, sitting at the most secluded table they had been able to find at the small bistro, "we would have saved her, if we could, but there was nothing we could have done."

"I know", Jane sighed, pushing her food around instead of eating it, "but… I keep asking myself if there could have been some way after all, something to make sure she'd get out of this alive. After all she went through… God, Maura, if something like that happened to you, to us, I don't know what I would do to those guys."

Nodding, Maura reached over the table and grasped her hand, holding it tenderly; Jane looked down at their interlaced fingers, a position which seemed so natural and normal, then up at her again, the care and warmth and love she could see in her eyes making her heart clench up.

"We can't save them all", the medical examiner told her, squeezing her hand tenderly, "but still we have to try, day after day. And I'll do anything I can to support you in this…"

"I know", Jane gave back, now smiling slightly, "I couldn't do it without you."

The two smiled at each other for another moment, then the detective went on, the sudden change of topic prompting Maura to raise an eyebrow, then making her smile as she listened to the words her partner had to say.

"Let's take a few days off", Jane suggested, "and go somewhere, just you and me, away from it all, for a while. So we can just be together and enjoy that, before we have to worry about whom we tell and how we tell them and all that crap."

"Gladly", Maura agreed at once, liking the thought; figuring that they both had gotten done eating, since neither had touched their food for the last ten minutes except to poke at it, she waved for the waiter and paid their meals, Jane thanking her for the invite and making her smile yet again; they left the bistro together, and once they stood outside on the sidewalk, Jane asked the question which had been on her mind ever since the previous night.

"Why did you tell her she's not alone?" she wanted to know, giving Maura a curious look; shrugging, the medical examiner slung her purse over her shoulder as they started walking again, sorting her thoughts for a moment before she replied.

"Just so she would know... that we are not only with her physically, but in spirit, as well", she explained, making Jane nod after a moment, "and that we understand her and sympathize with her, and know that we didn't see her as an evil person. Do you think she understood?"

"I'm sure she did", Jane gave back, suddenly not caring anymore who might be watching and what they might think, grasping Maura's hand and holding it tenderly as they walked together, telling herself that life was too short for such inhibitions and that they had to enjoy the newfound romance between them as long as it might last, knowing that not all might be sunshine and rainbows from now on for them, but convinced that together, they'd weather all the storms, this knowledge making her smile again as they walked back to the precinct hand in hand, looking forward to the future they'd have together.

End.


End file.
